Hiroshi Yoshida devoted the first part of his career to painting. In his late 40’s he moved into woodblock printing and became one of the major artists of the “shin hanga” (”new print”) movement. Yoshida was one of the first major woodblock printers in Japan to step outside the traditional separation of skills in which wood block prints were prepared by artists who individually took on the role of designer, block carver and printer.
Yoshida’s quietly beautiful landscapes are composed of delicate linework enlivened with soft but somehow vivid colors. Like many Japanese printmakers, he suggests even more than he shows, and his deceptively simple images carry an uncanny emotional resonance.
Like his contemporary Kawase Hasui, who I profiled back in January, Yoshida had superb control over atmospheric perspective and excelled at the depiction of light and reflections on the surface of water.
Also like Hasui, Yoshida traveled extensively on sketching expeditions, although Yoshida’s travels extended well outside Japan to North America, Europe, North Africa, India and other parts of Asia. His images display a broad range of subjects not normally encountered in Japanese prints, including places more familiar to western eyes like Yosemite and Niagra Falls, perhaps helping those of us with an untrained eye to differentiate style from subject.
The image shown above, Sekishozan – Shizhongshan (Jizuri) is from China.
As a result of his travels Yoshida also was exposed to influences of stye from western art that he subtly incorporated into his own unique style.
The Hanga Gallery includes more prints from European and North American subjects than the Artlino Art Auctions, but the latter features larger scale images of his work (click on the image for an enlargement), which I highly recommend.
In either case, I hope you can set aside some time to spend with Yoshida’s sublime images. Like many aspects of arts from Japan and other parts of eastern Asia, I find that contemplation is rewarded.
Link courtesy of Lok Jansen.
Of all the artists that this blog has introduced me to Kasawe Hasui is my favourite, but Yoshida is almost as good. I just love the elegance and realism of these japanese artists.
Shin Hanga is one of my favorite styles, but I hadn’t heard of Yoshida before, thank you for highlighting him. Castle Fine Arts has some nice samples of Yoshida and Hasui (and others) as well:
http://www.castlefinearts.com/fs_biography.aspx?page=/Japanese_fine_arts_woodblock_prints/Hiroshi_Yoshida_Biography.aspx
(scroll down to see the index)
If people want to know what went in to making these prints, check this printing manual that Yoshida himself wrote.
http://www.woodblock.com/encyclopedia/entries/011_07/011_07.html
It’s the whole book available online. Even if you have no inclination to try it out yourself (who would blame you) it’s still great to read about the technical aspect of the print making process. I should have send this link before, but I couldn’t find it at the time.
You just made my year! I was gasping every second looking att his guys work. Absolutely beautiful! Thanks.
I LIKA YOU PAINTING
I LIKA YOU PAINTING AGAIN