When Steve Jobs was just a teenager, his childhood friend - and future first employee at Apple - Bill Fernandez would often invite him round to his family home. It was there where he first encountered the wonderful world of shin-hanga prints, the 20th century resurgence of traditional Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock printing, as the Fernandez family had a large collection of many pieces. Out of this collection, there were three prints in particular that Steve, even as an adolescent, was always drawn to, all of which had been made by the master of shin-hanga: Kawase Hasui. The profound impact of these pieces on Jobs was palpable; he was captivated by their serene beauty, their meticulous attention to detail, and the way they encapsulated the essence of Japanese aesthetics—values he aspired to embody within Apple's designs. But who was Kawase Hasui, and how did his creations come to be?
The Shin-Hanga Movement: A canvas of East meets West
The Shin-Hanga movement, coming to be in the early 20th century, was Japan's response to modernising traditional ukiyo-e art forms. It was a renaissance that sought to infuse popular Western painting techniques with the soul of Japanese artistry. This movement wasn't just about creating something new; it was about reinvigorating the old with new life, a philosophy that might sound remarkably familiar to those versed in Apple's design ethos. Shin-Hanga artists like Hasui focused on landscapes and everyday scenes, imbuing them with a sense of nostalgia yet making them palpable for the contemporary audience. They were visionaries who straddled two worlds, echoing the very duality that Jobs would later navigate in his technological ventures.
Kawase Hasui: The Visionary Behind the Vista
Born in 1883, Kawase Hasui was a pivotal figure in the Shin-Hanga movement, known for his lyrical and atmospheric landscapes that evoke a deep sense of tranquillity. Hasui’s journey was one of perseverance; despite initial setbacks and the devastating loss of many of his works in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, he continued to create art that spoke to the soul. His role in the Shin-Hanga movement was crucial—he helped define its essence through his prints, which combined traditional Japanese techniques with the perspective, shading, and realism borrowed from the West. Hasui's works were not just paintings; they were windows to a Japan that was at once timeless and evolving, a dichotomy of tradition and modernisation.
Hasui is celebrated for his ability to capture the transient beauty of Japan’s landscapes with a poignant elegance that resonates across time and culture. Among his most famous pieces, "The Zojo Shrine in Shiba" stands out for its serene depiction of the Zojoji Temple, shrouded in a gentle snowfall. The composition masterfully balances the temple's majestic architecture against the soft, enveloping snow, creating a scene of quiet contemplation. The use of muted blues and whites, alongside the intricate detailing of the snow-covered trees and the temple’s roof, evoke a sense of tranquility and the fleeting beauty of winter. This piece, like many of Hasui's works, invites viewers to pause and reflect, capturing not just a moment in time but the emotion and atmosphere of the scene.
Another remarkable piece, "Misty Night (Miyajima)," showcases Hasui’s unparalleled ability to capture not just the tangible elements of a landscape but its ethereal mood and atmosphere. This work depicts the famed Itsukushima Shrine enveloped in a serene, misty night, with the shrine's torii gate emerging as a ghostly silhouette against a softly illuminated backdrop. The subtle interplay of light and shadow, combined with the tranquil waters and the hint of a moonlit sky, transports the viewer to a moment of profound peace and contemplation. Hasui’s masterful rendering of the mist captures the transient beauty of nature, evoking a sense of mystery and reverence. Through "Misty Night (Miyajima)," Hasui communicates the emotional depth and spiritual significance of Japan’s natural and cultural landscapes, solidifying his legacy as a painter of not just scenes, but sensations and memories, preserved in time through his delicate and emotive touch.
Influence on Apple’s Aesthetics
Pointing out the influence of Hasui's aesthetic & the Shin-Hanga philosophy on Apple's products might seem a stretch to some, yet the parallels are undeniable. The minimalist ethos, the seamless integration of form and function, and the celebration of clean lines and vibrant colours that define Apple's products could easily be seen as a digital reflection of Hasui's landscapes. Jobs' well-known admiration for Japanese design principles — where less is more, and where every element serves a purpose — is evident in the way Apple products are not just designed but curated.
The "Think Different" campaign, for instance, with its emphasis on revolutionary design and thinking, echoes the Shin-Hanga movement's break from tradition to embrace a new aesthetic vision. The intuitive simplicity of the iPhone's interface, much like the uncluttered tranquillity of a Hasui print, invites users into a world where beauty and functionality coexist seamlessly. It's tempting to imagine that Jobs, in his quiet moments of reflection, might have found solace and inspiration in Hasui's depictions of the natural world, an echo of his own quest to marry the complexities of technology with the simple elegance of design.
Something else about the Shin-Hanga method that inspired Jobs was the artists' involvement in the print process. Traditional ukiyo-e processes would separate each role incredibly specifically and strictly: the artist would draw or paint the piece, the block carver would transfer it to wood, and finally the printer and his team would produce the pieces en masse for sale. Shin-hanga took a different approach, where the artist would be involved in every step of the process, in a collaborative effort to reach the artist's vision. Steve Jobs set up Apple in much the same way, teams of specialised experts who would all collaborate with Steve to achieve his singular vision.
By the end of his life, Jobs had been collecting Japanese art, primarily Shin-Hanga pieces, for 40 years. The pieces fascinated and inspired him throughout his life and his work, and he paid tribute to them often, such as when he featured Goyo Hashiguchi's "Woman Combing Her Hair" at the launch of the Macintosh in 1984. The piece had been scanned in from a print in his own collection, purchased on one of his many trips to Japan he undertook throughout his life.
In weaving together the legacies of Kawase Hasui and Steve Jobs, this exploration does more than just trace the influence of art on technology; it celebrates the enduring power of beauty and simplicity to shape our world. Through their respective mediums, both men challenged us to look beyond the surface, to find harmony in the interplay of light and shadow, and to appreciate the profound elegance in the landscapes that surround us—both natural and digital.
See more from Kawase Hasui here.
