Hodaka Yoshida

1926-1995

Red Wall
(Aka no kabe)

zinc etching and woodblock; signed and dated in pencil on bottom right margin, Hodaka Yoshida, '92, titled in Japanese on the bottom left margin, a.p. (artist's proof), Aka no kabe, from a limited edition of 15 impressions, 1992

43 7/8 by 67 3/4 in., 111.5 by 172 cm

Hodaka Yoshida was the second son in a family of artists. His mother, Fujio Yoshida (1887-1987) was a painter (and later printmaker), his father, Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) was an influential painter and pioneering self-publishing printmaker, and his older brother, Toshi Yoshida (1911-1995), was also a painter who went one step further and mastered the techniques of carving and printing woodblock prints. Although raised in a creative milieau, his father had intended Hodaka to become a scientist and had kept him on that academic track from the age of middle school. However, when the second world war intensified with the bombing of Tokyo, Hodaka took a leave of absence from the science program at Tokyo's Dai-ichi Higher School (the equivalent of a university), moved back home with his family, and started working at a war factory and publishing poetry. In early 1945 he began to teach himself to paint with oils late at night in his parent's attic, experimenting with abstract compositions. Initially his parents were unaware of this pursuit, although his brother did occaisonally join him, and later he shared his secret efforts with his mother Fujio. After three or four years he gained enough confidence to submit his work to various group shows, including the annual exhibition of the Taiheiyo (Pacific Painting Society)- an organization which his father helped establish and was a prominent member. Remarkably, through the support of some of the younger members, Hodaka's painting won a prize, which Hiroshi was asked to present, unbeknownst to him that the recipient was his own son. It was a decisive way for Hodaka to assert his intentions of becoming an artist, made all the more shocking for Hiroshi who strongly disapproved of abstract art.

In the early 1950s Hodaka began to explore producing woodblock prints, carving and printing the blocks himself in alignment with the creative print movement (sosaku hanga) which was finding new energy in the post-war period, and he met the painter Inoue Chizuko, who was also experimenting with abstract expressionism and interested in printmaking. Hodaka and Chizuko exhibited their first self-carved and self-printed woodblock prints together in December 1951, and following a prolific burst of creativity, the two married in the summer of 1953. In 1955 Hodaka accompanied his brother Toshi on a woodblock print teaching trip to the United States and then continued on his own to Mexico, where he found a new source of inspiration which he would draw upon (and revisit, physically and creatively) through several future phases of his artistic development.

This monumental print is from his last production period- a remarkably ambitious late career undertaking. Based on a photograph taken of an old wall in Mexico, the print was produced with a zinc etching and woodblock printed color. Hodaka developed the unique photo-based etching technique with a former student who had opened his own print shop in Tokyo where Hodaka carved eight to ten blocks for each wall print, which they used to overlay additional layers of color with multiple printings. Working together using a printing press, the zinc plate was printed with oils, and the woodblocks were printed with watercolor pigments, using the baren in some areas. The enormous sheets of kozo paper (the highest quality hosho paper) were special ordered from a papermaker, Mr. Iwano, who was located in Fukui prefecture. Due to the technical challenges of working in a monumental scale as well as the expense related to the use of kozo, Hodaka's ambitious 'Wall' prints were produced in very limited editions of only 15 numbered impressions.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

Exhibited:
James A. Michener Art Museum, Mid-Century to Manga: The Modern Japanese Print in America, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, March 4 - July 30, 2023

References:
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Hodaka: Magic, Artifact, and Art, in A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, p. 147, cat. no. 107
Hodaka Yoshida: Walls of Wonder, Mitaka City Gallery of Art, 2019, Tatsuo Matsuyama, pp. 13-16; Ayomi Yoshida, pp. 116-118; Satoko Tomita, pp. 126-129; p. 103, cat. no. 108 (and cover)
Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession no. 2006.111
Spencer Art Museum, The University of Kansas, accession no. 2008.0042
Asian Art Museum Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture (onlinecollection.asianart.org), object no. 2015.31
The Ringling Museum, Sarasota, object no. SN11604

(inv. no. C-3565)

$10,000

Hodaka Yoshida

1926-1995

Earth-Colored Wall
(Tsuchi-iro no kabe)

zinc etching and woodblock on paper; signed and dated in pencil on the bottom right margin, Hodaka Yoshida, '92, titled in Japanese on the bottom left margin, a.p. (artist's proof), Tsuchi-iro no kabe,, from a limited edition of 15 impressions, 1992

43 3/4 by 67 3/8 in., 111 by 171 cm

This monumental print of a wall at the famous Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto is one from a group of six made by Hodaka for a 1992 exhibition held at the Wall Museum in Suwako, in Nagao Prefecture. Fully embracing the show's title, Walls in The Wall, Hodaka based the designs on photographs he had taken of various walls during his travels (a subject of interest to him for many years), developing a new photo-based zinc etching and color woodblock printed technique with a former student who had opened his own print shop in Tokyo. The zinc plate was produced from his photograph, and Hodaka carved eight to ten blocks for each wall print, from which multiple printings would overly the colors. Working together using a printing press, the zinc plate was printed with oils, and the woodblocks were printed with watercolor pigments, using the baren in some areas. The enormous sheets of kozo paper (the highest quality hosho paper) were special ordered from a papermaker, Mr. Iwano, who was located in Fukui prefecture. Due to the technical challenges of working in a monumental scale as well as the expense related to the use of kozo, Hodaka's ambitious 'Wall' prints were produced in very limited editions of only 15 numbered impressions.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Hodaka: Magic, Artifact, and Art, in A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 110-120; p. 147, cat. nos. 105-107 (three prints from the Wall series)
Hodaka Yoshida: Walls of Wonder, Mitaka City Gallery of Art, 2019, Tatsuo Matsuyama, pp. 13-16; Ayomi Yoshida, pp. 116-118; Satoko Tomita, pp. 126-129; p. 105, cat. no. 113
Asian Art Museum Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture (onlinecollection.asianart.org), object no. 2016.87
Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession no. 2018.109.2

(inv. no. C-3566)

SOLD

Hodaka Yoshida

1926-1995

Green Wall
(Midori no kabe)

zinc etching and woodblock on paper; signed and dated in pencil on the bottom right margin, Hodaka Yoshida, '92, titled in Japanese on the bottom left margin, a.p. (artist's proof) Midori no kabe, from an edition limited to 15 numbered impressions, 1992

35 3/8 by 53 1/2 in., 90 by 136 cm

This monumental print of a wall in Mexico is from a group of six made by Hodaka for a 1992 exhibition held at the Wall Museum in Suwako, in Nagao Prefecture. Fully embracing the show's title, Walls in The Wall, Hodaka based the designs on photographs he had taken of various walls during his travels (a subject of interest to him for many years). In her essay, My Father's Wonderwall, in the catalogue accompanying the 2019 exhibition, Hodaka Yoshida: Walls of Wonder held at the Mitaka City Gallery of Art in 2019, Ayomi Yoshida recounts finding a wall he used in an earlier print during a trip to Mexico with her father in 1995 (his seventh and final visit to the country). Turning a corner and expecting to find something on par with the monolithic image he created, instead there was "a tiny infill within a doorframe," demonstrating that it was only someone with Hodaka's unique "artistic worldview" would have seen the magic of that little house and modestly repaired wall.

The prints were made using a new photo-based zinc etching and color woodblock printed technique which Hodaka developed with a former student who had opened his own print shop in Tokyo. The zinc plate was produced from his photograph, and Hodaka carved eight to ten blocks for each print, from which multiple printings would overly the colors. Working together using a printing press, the zinc plate was printed with oils, and the woodblocks were printed with watercolor pigments, using the baren in some areas. The enormous sheets of kozo paper (the highest quality hosho paper) were special ordered from a papermaker, Mr. Iwano, who was located in Fukui Prefecture. Due to the technical challenges of working in a monumental scale as well as the expense related to the use of kozo, Hodaka's ambitious 'Wall' prints were produced in very limited editions of only 15 numbered impressions.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Hodaka: Magic, Artifact, and Art, in A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 110-120; p. 147, cat. no. 105-107 (this print, with two additional prints from the Wall series)
Hodaka Yoshida: Walls of Wonder, Mitaka City Gallery of Art, 2019, Tatsuo Matsuyama, pp. 13-16; Ayomi Yoshida, pp. 116-118; Satoko Tomita, pp. 126-129; p. 105, cat. no. 113
Asian Art Museum Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture (onlinecollection.asianart.org), object no. 2016.89
Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession no. 2018.109.1

(inv. no. C-3567)

$9,000

Hodaka Yoshida

1926-1995

White Wall A.B.
(Shiro no kabe A, B)

zinc etching and woodblock on paper; signed and dated in the bottom right margin, Hodaka Yoshida '91, titled in Japanese on the bottom left margin, Shiro no kabe A, B, and numbered, 13/50, 1991

21 5/8 by 28 in., 55 by 71.2 cm

This print is from an ambitious series Hodaka produced based on photographs he had taken of various walls during his travels (a subject of interest to him for many years), in this case a wall around a house in the Kyoto-Nara area where he had spent his honeymoon in 1953. The print was made using a new technique Hodaka developed with a former student who had opened his own print shop in Tokyo. A zinc plate was produced from the photograph, and Hodaka carved eight to ten blocks for each print, from which multiple printings would overly the colors. Working together using a printing press, the zinc plate was printed with oils, and the woodblocks were printed with watercolor pigments, using the baren in some areas. The sheets of kozo paper (the highest quality hosho paper) were special ordered from a papermaker, Mr. Iwano, who was located in Fukui prefecture.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Hodaka: Magic, Artifact, and Art, in A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 110-120; p. 147, cat. no. 105-107 (three larger prints from the Wall series)
Hodaka Yoshida: Walls of Wonder, Mitaka City Gallery of Art, 2019, Tatsuo Matsuyama, pp. 13-16; Ayomi Yoshida, pp. 116-118; Satoko Tomita, pp. 126-129; p. 105, cat. no. 112 (larger print based on the same photograph)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, accession no. M.2018.39
The Art Institute of Chicago, reference no. 2013.33

(inv. no. C-3569)

$5,000

Hodaka Yoshida

1926-1995

One More Scene: Stonehouses, Tomo
(Mouhitotsu no fukei: kura, tomo)

zinc etching and woodblock on paper; signed in pencil on the bottom right margin, Hodaka Yoshida, titled in Japanese on the bottom left margin, Mouhitotsu no fukei - kura, tomo, and numbered 25/100, 1988

16 7/8 by 24 3/8 in., 43 by 61.8 cm

Starting in 1973, Hodaka began to use his adapt his photographs for prints, combining photoetching with color woodblock printing. Eugene Skibbe notes that Hodaka had been well known as a photographer before he became recognized as a print artist. In 1958 one of his photographs was used on the cover of Camera Mainichi, and in 1960 one of his photographs was included in the Modern Photographs Exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art.

The intensely saturated color and emphasis on the contrasting textures of the old storehouses is a prelude to Hodaka's monumental Wall prints of the early 1990s.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Hodaka: Magic, Artifact, and Art, in A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 110-120 (see note 22); p. 146, cat. 104
Hodaka Yoshida: Walls of Wonder, Mitaka City Gallery of Art, 2019, Tatsuo Matsuyama, pp. 13-16; Ayomi Yoshida, pp. 116-118; Satoko Tomita, pp. 126-129
The Art Institute of Chicago (www.artic.edu), reference no. 2013.30
Asian Art Museum Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture (onlinecollection.asianart.org), object no. 2016.5

(inv. no. C-3570)

$4,000

Hodaka Yoshida

1926-1995

Blue Wall in San Jose
(San hose no aoi kabe)

zinc etching and woodblock on paper; signed and dated in pencil on the bottom right margin, Hodaka Yoshida '93, numbered on the bottom left margin, 8/50, followed by the title in Japanese, San hose no aoi kabe, 1993

22 1/8 by 28 3/4 in., 56.2 by 73 cm

This print is from Hodaka's remarkably inspired Wall series. Based on a photograph taken of a wall in San Jose, the print was made using a unique photo-based etching technique Hodaka developed with a former student who had opened his own print shop in Tokyo. Working together using a printing press, the zinc plate produced from the photograph was printed with oils, and the woodblocks were printed with watercolor pigments, using the baren in some areas. The large sheets of kozo paper (the highest quality hosho paper) were special ordered from a papermaker, Mr. Iwano, who was located in Fukui prefecture.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Hodaka: Magic, Artifact, and Art, in A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 110-120; p. 147, cat. no. 105-107 (Wall series)
Hodaka Yoshida: Walls of Wonder, Mitaka City Gallery of Art, 2019, Tatsuo Matsuyama, pp. 13-16; Ayomi Yoshida, pp. 116-118; Satoko Tomita, pp. 126-129; pp. 103-107, nos. 108-115 (Wall series)
Asian Art Museum Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture (onlinecollection.asianart.org), object no. 2016.4

(inv. no. C-3568)

$5,000

Hodaka Yoshida

1926-1995

Caught God

self-carved, self-printed; titled on the bottom left, Caught God, signed and dated in pencil on the bottom right margin, Hodaka Yoshida, 1956

22 5/8 by 16 3/8 in., 57.6 by 41.7 cm

Following a profoundly influential trip to Mexico in 1955 with his brother Toshi Yoshida, Hodaka embarked on a new creative stage producing works inspired by Mayan and Aztec culture through 1963 which Skibbe refers to as 'primitive energy prints.' With this dynamic print, Hodaka fills the composition emulating the style of the ancient cultures. The title, Caught God, may not refer to a specific diety as Hodaka was known to conjure English titles for his works based on how poetic sound of the syllables to his ear. He mounted this print along with the complimentary print, Crafty God, on a small folding screen which he used to shelter his newborn daughter Ayomi born a few years later.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp. 169-170
Toshi Yoshida & Rei Yuki, Japanese Print Making: A Handbook of Traditional and Modern Techniques, 1966, p. 163, fig. 103 (mounted with Caught God as folding screen)
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Hodaka: Magic, Artifact, and Art, in A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 110-121; p. 123, cat. no. 78 (folding screen, right panel)

(inv. no. C-3573)

SOLD

Hodaka Yoshida

1926-1995

Altar
(Gushinno)

self-carved, self-printed; titled on the bottom left margin in kanji, Gushinno, and English, Altar, signed and dated in pencil on the bottom right margin, Hodaka Yoshida, 1956

16 1/2 by 22 3/4 in., 41.8 by 57.7 cm

This print is a colorful variation on the style of work produced by Hodaka following his trip to Mexico in 1955 which inspired a phase of printmaking through 1963 which Skibbe characterized as 'primitive energy prints.' Deeply moved by Mayan sculpture and architecture in the Yucatan, Hodaka references pre-Columbian imagery with his own visual vocabulary, assembling bold shapes printed in saturated colors. While the title of the print, Altar, is readily identifiable in the composition, the objects on display are mysterious, with the exception of the upended artist's palette balancing on the far right edge.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp. 169-170
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Hodaka: Magic, Artifact, and Art, in A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 110-120
Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession no. 2019.78.371

(inv. no. C-3571)

SOLD

Hodaka Yoshida

1926-1995

Crafty God

self-carved, self-printed; titled on the bottom left, Crafty God, signed and dated in pencil on the bottom right margin, Hodaka Yoshida, 1956

22 1/2 by 16 3/8 in., 57.3 by 41.7 cm

Following a profoundly influential trip to Mexico in 1955 with his brother Toshi Yoshida, Hodaka embarked on a new creative stage producing works inspired by Mayan and Aztec culture through 1963 which Skibbe refers to as 'primitive energy prints.' With this dynamic print, Hodaka fills the composition emulating the style of the ancient cultures. The title, Crafty God, may not refer to a specific diety as Hodaka was known to conjure English titles for his works based on how poetic sound of the syllables to his ear. He mounted this print along with the complimentary print, Caught God, on a small folding screen which he used to shelter his newborn daughter Ayomi born a few years later.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp. 169-170
Toshi Yoshida & Rei Yuki, Japanese Print Making: A Handbook of Traditional and Modern Techniques, 1966, p. 163, fig. 103 (mounted with Caught God as folding screen)
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Hodaka: Magic, Artifact, and Art, in A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 110-121; p. 123, cat. no. 78 (folding screen, left panel)
Mead Art Museum at Amherst College, accession no. 1996.264
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, accession no. M.2000.105.166

(inv. no. C-3572)

SOLD

Hodaka Yoshida

1926-1995

Sacrifice
(Ikenie)

self-carved, self-printed; signed and dated in pencil on the lower right, Hodaka Yoshida, 1956, titled on the bottom left corner, Sacrifice, 1956

16 1/2 by 22 5/8 in., 41.9 by 57.5 cm

In 1955 Hodaka traveled with his brother Toshi to Mexico, a trip which had a profound influence on his work, leading to a third period of work which Skibbe refers to as 'primitive energy prints.' Inspired by Mayan sculpture and architecture in the Yucatan, the early works in this stage depict a single form in the center of the picture plane. In this composition, Hodaka depicts a kneeling elephant offering a wrapped gift held aloft with his trunk.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp. 169-170
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Hodaka: Magic, Artifact, and Art, in A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 110-121; p. 115, fig. 2 (dated 1955)
Hodaka Yoshida: Walls of Wonder, Mitaka City Gallery of Art, 2019, p. 40, cat. no. 30
National Museum of Asian Art, accession no. S2019.3.2073

(inv. no. C-3574)

$600

Hodaka Yoshida

1926-1995

Konin Buddha
(Koninbutsu)

self-carved, self-printed; titled in penciled kanji on the bottom left corner, Konin Buddah, signed and dated in pencil at lower right, Hodaka Yoshida, 1954

22 5/8 by 16 1/2 in., 57.5 by 42 cm

Hodaka Yoshida married fellow-artist Chizuko Inoue in 1953, and they spent their honeymoon in Kyoto and Nara, both locations replete with cultural sites including several ancient Buddhist temples. The trip fueled Hodaka's second but brief period of work producing a group of fifteen prints in 1954 devoted to Buddhist imagery.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp. 169-170
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Hodaka: Magic, Artifact, and Art, in A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 110-121; no. 75 (similar work from Hodaka's Buddhist period)
Hodaka Yoshida: Walls of Wonder, Mitaka City Gallery of Art, 2019, p. 40, cat. no. 17

(inv. no. C-3577)

$700

Hodaka Yoshida

1926-1995

Maya's Sacrifice
(Maya no ikenie)

self-carved, self-printed; titled on the bottom left corner, Maya's Sacrifice,, signed and dated on the right below the composition, Hodaka Yoshida, 1956

16 1/2 by 22 5/8 in., 41.8 by 57.5 cm

In 1955 Hodaka traveled with his brother Toshi to Mexico, a trip which had a profound influence on his work, leading to a third period of work which Skibbe refers to as 'primitive energy prints.' Inspired by Mayan sculpture and architecture in the Yucatan, the early works in this stage depict a single form in the center of the picture plane. This quiet composition is rendered poignant and perhaps unsettling by the title of Maya's Sacrifice. A figure with a string of white beads encircling the neck lies rigid across the center of the composition while floating horizontally against overlapping grey, black and blue panels, a grey cloud near the head symbolic of life force seeping out from the prone offering.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp. 169-170
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Hodaka: Magic, Artifact, and Art, in A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 110-121; p. 115, fig. 2 (dated 1955)
National Museum of Asian Art, accession no. S2019.3.2067 (similar composition with the same title, dated 1955)

(inv. no. C-3576)

$700

Hodaka Yoshida

1926-1995

Ancestor
(Oya)

self-carved, self-printed; pencil titled on the bottom margin in kanji, Oya, and English, Ancester [sic], ed. 50, signed and dated to the right, Hodaka Yoshida 1958, from an edition of 50, 1958

22 1/2 by 16 1/4 in., 57 by 41.4 cm

As Hodaka continued producing woodblock prints inspired by his encounter with pre-Columbian cultures during his trip to Mexico in 1955, the abstract figures within the compositions gained a sense of weight and monumentality, echoing the architecture of the Mayan and Aztec architecture and imagery.

Provenance:
Tsuruoka Family Collection (Kakunen Tsuruoka, artist, 1892-1977)

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp. 169-170
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Hodaka: Magic, Artifact, and Art, in A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 110-120
Asian Art Museum Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture (onlinecollection.asianart.org), object no. 1992.191
The British Museum (britishmuseum.org), registration no. 1986,0321,0.864

(inv. no. C-1514)

SOLD

Hodaka Yoshida

1926-1995

Gallantly Attired
(Idetachi)

self-carved, self-prints; titled in penciled English on the lower left, Idetachi, signed and dated on lower right, Hodaka Yoshida, 1956

16 1/2 by 22 3/4 in., 41.8 by 57.7 cm

In 1955 Hodaka traveled with his brother Toshi to Mexico, a trip which had a profound influence on his work, leading to a third period of work which Skibbe refers to as 'primitive energy prints.' Inspired by Mayan and Aztec artifacts and inscriptions, Hodaka emulated the pre-Columbian imagery, the Galantly Attired figures as suggested by the title are hidden beneath complex layers of adornments.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp. 169-170
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Hodaka: Magic, Artifact, and Art, in A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 110-120

(inv. no. C-3575)

SOLD

Hodaka Yoshida

1926-1995

Black Flower

self-carved, self-printed; signed and dated on the bottom right, Hodaka Yoshida, 1952, and titled on the bottom left, Black Flower, 1952

16 1/8 by 11 in., 41 by 28 cm

In the early 1950s Hodaka began to explore producing woodblock prints, carving the blocks and printing the works himself from the start. This print, Black Flower, is from his earliest period of print production, from 1951-1955. As Eugene Skibbe points out in entry accompanying this image in the Minneapolis exhibition catalogue, the abstract flower appears to be constructed out of pieces of colored paper that are laid one on top of the other. The overall effect is similar to the cut-outs produced by the French modernist artist, Henri Matisse (1869-1954), who was producing similar paper collage compositions during the very same period.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp. 169-170
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Hodaka: Magic, Artifact, and Art, in A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 110-121; no. 74
Legion of Honor, Achenbach Foundation, accession no. 1959.118.7
National Museum of Asian Art, accession no. S2019.3.2031

(inv. no. C-3578)

$700

Hodaka Yoshida

1926-1995

Night (stars)
(Yoru)

self-carved, self-printed; signed and dated on the bottom right margin, Hodaka Yoshida, 1954, titled on the left, Night, 1954

oban tate-e 15 7/8 by 11 in., 40.3 by 27.8 cm

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Hodaka Yoshida: Walls of Wonder, Mitaka City Gallery of Art, 2019, p. 32, cat. no. 22
The Art Institute of Chicago (www.artic.edu), reference no. 1962.1127

(inv. no. C-3599)

SOLD

Hodaka Yoshida

1926-1995

Night (drops)
(Yoru)

self-carved, self-printed; signed and dated on the bottom right margin, Hodaka Yoshida, 1954, titled on the left, Night, 1954

oban tate-e 16 by 10 7/8 in., 40.5 by 27.5 cm

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

Reference:
Hodaka Yoshida: Walls of Wonder, Mitaka City Gallery of Art, 2019, p. 32, cat. no. 23 (different print with same title and similar shapes)

(inv. no. C-3598)

$1,200

Hodaka Yoshida

1926-1995

Face

self-carved, self-printed; signed and dated on the bottom right margin, Hodaka Yoshida, 1956, titled on the left, Face, 1956

oban yoko-e 10 1/2 by 15 7/8 in., 26.8 by 40.2 cm

As Hodaka continued producing woodblock prints inspired by his encounter with pre-Columbian cultures during his trip to Mexico in 1955, the abstract figures within the compositions gained a sense of weight and monumentality, echoing the architecture of the Mayan and Aztec architecture and imagery. In this early period, Hodaka rarely numbered his prints, but according to his daughter, the editions were very small, he generally produced far fewer than 50 impressions before he start working on something new.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

(inv. no. C-3608)

$900

Hodaka Yoshida

1926-1995

Autumn Trees
(Aki no kigi)

self-carved, self-printed; signed on the bottom right margin, Hodaka Yoshida, titled on the left, Autumn Trees, 1952

oban tate-e 15 7/8 by 11 in., 40.2 by 28 cm

In the early 1950s Hodaka began to explore producing woodblock prints, carving the blocks and printing the works himself from the start. This print, Autumn Trees, is from his earliest period of print production, from 1951-1955.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

Reference:
Hodaka Yoshida: Walls of Wonder, Mitaka City Gallery of Art, 2019, p. 28, cat. no. 14

(inv. no. C-3609)

$1,200

Chizuko Yoshida

1924-2017

Butterfly A

self-carved, self-printed woodblock print; signed and dated in pencil on the bottom right margin, Chizuko Yoshida, 1953, with red artist's seal within the composition, Chizuko, titled on the bottom left margin, Butterfly A, 1953

oban tate-e 15 3/4 by 10 5/8 in., 40 by 27 cm

Before joining the Yoshida family by marriage to the younger son Hodaka, Chizuko Inoue lived a life emersed in the arts. From a young age she studied music, learning to playing the violin, and her dance skills lead to place on the chorus line with the competitve dance troupe, Nichigeki Dance Team, dancing tap, ballet and Japanese dances, although after six months her mother persuaded her to leave due to the grueling schedule which had taken a toll on Chizuko's health. After graduating from the Sato Girl's High School in Tokyo in 1941, Chizuko studied traditional Western-style realism inclulding life drawing at the Hongo Art Institute, and oil painting privately in the studio of Kitaoka Fumio (1918-2007) who was also a woodblock printmaker. In the late 1940s, Chizuko joined a group of avant-garde artists who called themselves the Century Society (Seiki no kai), who met two or three times a month to discuss new ideas regarding international modernist artistic principals. Energized by the discourse, Chizuko moved away from academic realism and began painting abstract compositions.

Already exposed to woodblock printing in the studio of Kitaoka, after meeting Hodaka Yoshida at a Taiheiyo (Pacific Painting Society) exhibition in 1949 or 1950 (according to Statler, in 1949, the same year that Hodaka won a prize), Chizuko she 'crossed over' to the mileau of printmaking.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp.170-171
Laura W. Allen, ed., A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 178-181

(inv. no. C-3580)

SOLD

Chizuko Yoshida

1924-2017

Butterfly B

self-carved, self-printed woodblock print; signed and dated in pencil on the bottom right margin, Chizuko Yoshida, 1953, with red artist's seal within the composition, Chizuko, titled on the bottom left margin, Butterfly B, 1953

oban tate-e 15 7/8 by 10 1/2 in., 40.3 by 26.6 cm

Although Chizuko had academic training, in the late 1940s she began associating with a group of avant-garde writers and artists, known as the Century Society (Seiki no kai) who met regularly to exchange ideas regarding international developments in modern art theories, the exposure prompted Chizuko to move away from realism and towards abstract expressionism. In 1949 or 1950 (sources vary) she met Hodaka Yoshida at an exhibition organized by the Taiheiyo group. According to Statler, their meeting took place in 1949, the year Hodaka was awarded a prize for an abstract painting, and in 1950 she was likewise recognized for an abstract painting at the annual exhibition of the Shuyokai group. Chizuko and Hodaka began to show their work in joint exhibitions at Tokyo's Maruzen Gallery, and they were able to attend together a few of the First Thursday Society (Ichimokukai) gatherings held by the leading sosaku hanga printmaker, Onchi Koshiro (1891-1955). The two were married in 1953, a year that marked a notable burst in creativity emanating from the entire Yoshida family.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp. 170-171
Laura W. Allen, ed., A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 178-181
The Ringling Museum, Sarasota, object no. SN8058

(inv. no. C-3579)

SOLD

Chizuko Yoshida

1924-2017

Rain

self-carved, self-printed woodblock print; signed and dated in pencil on the bottom right margin, Chizuko Yoshida, 1953, titled on the bottom left margin, Rain, 1953

oban tate-e 15 3/4 by 10 3/4 in., 40.1 by 27.3 cm

In the late 1940s Chizuko began associating with a group of avant-garde writers and artists, known as the Century Society (Seiki no kai) who met regularly to exchange ideas regarding international developments in modern art theories, the exposure influenced Chizuko to move away from realism and towards abstract expressionism. In 1949 or 1950, she met Hodaka Yoshida (1826-1995) at an exhibition organized by the Taiheiyo group (according to Statler the year was 1949 when Hodaka won an award for an abstract painting), and in 1950 Chizuko was likewise awarded a prize for an abstract painting at the annual exhibition of the Shuyokai group. Chizuko and Hodaka began to show their work in joint exhibitions at Tokyo's Maruzen Gallery, and together they were able to attend a few of the First Thursday Society (Ichimokukai) gatherings held by the leading sosaku hanga printmaker, Onchi Koshiro (1891-1955). Chizuko and Hodaka were married in 1953, a year that marked a notable burst in creative print production emanating from the entire Yoshida family.

Chizuko's early abstract woodblock prints were studies in form and color, with very little or no negative space. The titular 'rain' of this print is visually referenced with straight lines terminating or connected by dots floating above overlapping geometric fields of color. Deeply influenced by music while she worked, the black lines are simultaneously suggestive of dancing musical notes and the plink, plink, plink sound of raindrops as well.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp. 170-171
Laura W. Allen, ed., A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 178-181

(inv. no. C-3583)

SOLD

Chizuko Yoshida

1924-2017

Rain B

self-carved, self-printed woodblock print; signed and dated in pencil on the bottom right margin, Chizuko Yoshida, 1954, with red artist's seal within the composition, Chizuko, titled on the bottom left margin, Rain B, 1954

oban tate-e 16 by 10 7/8 in., 40.6 by 27.5 cm

Chizuko's early abstract woodblock prints were studies in form and color, with very little or no negative space. The titular 'rain' of this print is visually referenced with straight lines terminating or connected by dots floating above overlapping geometric fields of color. Deeply influenced by music while she worked, the black lines are simultaneously suggestive of dancing musical notes and the plink, plink, plink sound of raindrops, the concentric circles gently reverberating the sound as well.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp. 170-171
Laura W. Allen, ed., A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 178-181 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, recently acquired an impression of this work from the Yoshida Family Collection

(inv. no. C-3584)

SOLD

Chizuko Yoshida

1924-2017

Spring A

self-carved, self-printed woodblock print; signed and dated in pencil on the bottom right margin, Chizuko Yoshida, 1954, with red artist's seal within the composition, Chizuko, titled on the bottom left margin, Spring A, 1954

oban tate-e 16 by 10 7/8 in., 40.7 by 27.6 cm

United in their pursuit of modernism, Chizuko and Hodaka were able to attend a few of the First Thursday Society (Ichimokukai) gatherings held by the leading sosaku hanga printmaker, Onchi Koshiro (1891-1955). Onchi believed that printmaking could be a primary means of creative expression, however, he was not interested in consistently replicating the same image but felt that the process itself was the primary act of creation. The fact that prints by their very nature are an art of multiples was secondary, merely a by-product of creativity. This print demonstrates Chizuko's exploration of the ethos of Onchi's creative process. Against an unchanging background of angled buildings in a cityscape, Chizuko shifted the placement of details such as the abstract layers of string and chain of linked orbs arching over the composition, achieving a slightly different result with every impression.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp.170-171
Laura W. Allen, ed., A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 178-181

(inv. no. C-3582)

SOLD

Acquired by the Carnegie Museum of Art

Chizuko Yoshida

1924-2017

Jazz

self-carved, self-printed woodblock print; signed and dated in pencil on the bottom right margin, Chizuko Yoshida, 1954, titled on the bottom left margin, Jazz, 1954

oban tate-e 16 by 10 3/4 in., 40.5 by 27.2 cm

Music and dance played an important role in Chizuko Yoshida's life and work. Trained both as a violinist and as a dancer, as a young girl she was a member of a dance team, performing tap, ballet and Japanese dances as part of a chorus line. She listened to music while she worked, and she often titled the prints with musical references which are echoed abstractly in the compositions, such as this design from her Jazz series.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Harvard Art Museums, object number 1978.457 (similar design in horizontal format also titled Jazz)
Portland Art Museum, accession no. 2015.189.1 (similar design in horizontal format, also titled Jazz)
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, recently acquired an impression of this work from the Yoshida Family Collection

(inv. no. C-3581)

SOLD

Chizuko Yoshida

1924-2017

Sounds in the Night

self-carved, self-printed woodblock print; signed and dated in pencil on the bottom right margin, Chizuko Yoshida, 1953, titled on the bottom left margin, Sounds in the Night, 1953

oban tate-e 16 by 10 3/8 in., 40.5 by 26.5 cm

Although Chizuko had academic training, in the late 1940s she began associating with a group of avant-garde writers and artists, known as the Century Society (Seiki no kai) who met regularly to exchange ideas regarding international developments in modern art theories, the exposure prompted Chizuko to move away from realism and towards abstract expressionism. In 1949 or 1950 (sources vary) she met Hodaka Yoshida at an exhibition organized by the Taiheiyo group. According to Statler, their meeting took place in 1949, the year Hodaka was awarded a prize for an abstract painting, and in 1950 she was likewise recognized for an abstract painting at the annual exhibition of the Shuyokai group. Chizuko and Hodaka began to show their work in joint exhibitions at Tokyo's Maruzen Gallery, and they were able to attend together a few of the First Thursday Society (Ichimokukai) gatherings held by the leading sosaku hanga printmaker, Onchi Koshiro (1891-1955). The two were married in 1953, a year that marked a notable burst in creativity emanating from the entire Yoshida family.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

Exhibited:
James A. Michener Art Museum, Mid-Century to Manga: The Modern Japanese Print in America, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, March 4 - July 30, 2023

(inv. no. C-3592)

$1,200

Fujio Yoshida

1887-1987

Flowering Kale
(Habotan)

woodblock print; titled, signed, and dated in pencil on the bottom margin, Flowering kale, Fujio Yoshida 1953, with red artist's seal within the composition on the lower right, dated and titled in Japanese on the left margin, sen kyuhyaku goju sannen saku (made in 1953), Habotan, 1953

oban tate-e 15 3/4 by 10 5/8 in., 40.1 by 27 cm

Fujio Yoshida was initially the younger sister (by virtue of his adoption into the family) of Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950), and later, his wife. Their father, Yoshida Kasaburo (1861-1894), a Western-style painter with four daughters and no sons to carry on the family name, adopted his promising fifteen-year-old student, Ueda Hiroshi, in 1891. Although Kasaburo would see the birth of a son in 1893, the following year he passed, leaving Hiroshi responsible for his adoptive family including Kasaburo's widow, Rui, and their five children. Fujio, only seven years old at the time, became financially dependent on Hiroshi who oversaw her artistic training as well. In April 1899, at the age of twelve, Fujio was enrolled in the Fudosha, the same painting academy in Tokyo where Hiroshi trained. Entrusting the director, Koyama Shotaro (1857-1916), to keep an eye on Fujio who was the only female among some thirty male students, Hiroshi departed in October with his friend and fellow-artist from the Fudosha academy, Nakagawa Hachiro (1877-1922), for a life-changing journey to the United States and Europe, where their work was exceptionally well-received, returning triumphantly to Japan in the summer of 1901. A little over two years later in December 1903, Hiroshi brought Fujio with him on his second trip abroad for an even longer sojourn around the world, painting and showing their works in numerous exhibitions promoting the novelty brother-sister artistic duo. Literally working side by side, with mirrored artist training and a shared affinity for watercolor landscapes, their painting technique was very similar, and the subjects were frequently only slightly different vantages of the very same views. The pair returned to Japan a little over three years later in February 1907 and married in April.

Having transition first from sister and brother, to ward and guardian, then student and teacher as travel companions, their alliance by marriage did not diminish Hiroshi's ambitions for Fujio who he believed could establish herself as a serious artist. Hiroshi pushed Fujio to submit her watercolors to the all-important government sponsored exhibitions that could make or break a young artist's career. Even after the birth of their first child in July 1908, their daughter Chisato, Fujio continued to paint and exhibit her works in the public exhibitions. In July 1911 their son Toshi was born, but only two months later Chisato suddenly died, and within a year baby Toshi was struck with polio and left partially paralyzed. Years later, Fujio recorded in her memoir that she blamed herself for prioritizing her painting and was never able to forgive herself for the back-to-back tragedies. Consumed by guilt and focused on Toshi's rehabilitation, it would be nearly ten years before she exhibited her work again in 1920, and in the following decades she shifted away from landscapes, focusing instead on still-life watercolors.

Fujio's first woodblock prints were produced shortly after Hiroshi up his own print studio in 1925, when a few of her luminous floral still-life paintings were adapted by professional carvers and printers. The results, while attractive, fall far short of her expressive painterly style and she did not continue in the format. She returned to the print medium almost three decades later in 1953 when she began to produce woodblock prints based on the abstract oils of extreme close-ups of flowers, the first of which she produced in 1946, four years before the death of her husband.

According to Oliver Statler, who in 1959 notes that "The newest addition to the Yoshida print-makers is the oldest member of the group," Fujio's foray into learning woodblock carving and printing techinques for herself began with a design for "artisan production," meaning, produced with the assistance of the professional carvers and printers working in the Yoshida studios. This print, depicting Flowering Kale, with fluid block-carving and evenly saturated printing appears to be the work of professionals, and may be that first design of what would eventually total ten woodblock prints depicting Fujio's floral abstractions, although the subsequent nine designs were apparently self-carved.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp. 171-172
Ogura Tadao, Chronological History, in Yoshida Hiroshi zenhangashu (The Complete Woodblock Prints of Hiroshi Yoshida), 1987, pp. 178-183
Catalogue of Collections, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 1993, p. 263, no. 2538
Laura W. Allen, ed., A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 154-159; p. 169, cat. no. 120
Minneapolis Institute of Art (collections.artmia.org), accession no. 2013.29.529
Art Institute of Chicago, reference no. 2013.25
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, recently acquired an impression of this work from the Yoshida Family Collection

(inv. no. C-3563)

SOLD

Acquired by the Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas

Fujio Yoshida

1887-1987

Ginger
(Myoga)

self-carved woodblock print; signed and dated in pencil on the bottom margin, Fujio Yoshida 1953, titled on the left, Myoga, 1953

oban tate-e 16 by 10 7/8 in., 40.5 by 27.5 cm

Fujio Yoshida was only twelve years old and the only female student when in 1899 she entered the prestigious Fudosha painting academy in Tokyo, the same academy where her adoptive brother and future husband, Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) had recently trained. A little over four years later, from late 1903 to early 1907 she traveled the world with Hiroshi, the pair painting watercolor landscapes side-by-side, and successfully selling their works in numerous exhibitions along the way. After marrying Hiroshi shortly after their return to Japan, he encouraged her to continue to painting and show her watercolors in government-sponsored exhibitions, belieiving strongly that she had the talent to establish herself as a significant artist. However, back-to-back family tragedies derailed those ambitions: first the loss of their first-born child, three-year-old daughter Chisato in 1911, and then within a year, her second-born, baby Toshi, was inflicted with polio which left the infant partially paralyzed. Laid low by grief and guilt, it would be nearly a decade before she included any of her work in a public exhibition, and when she did, beginning in 1920 and through the 1930s, she primarily produced still-life compositions-suggesting both a figurative and literal focus on intererior perspectives.

Fujio's most dramatic artistic departure of all occured in the heady postwar period when she not only switched from watercolors to painting in oil, but also abandoned realism for abstractionism-a genre of art of which her husband strongly disapproved. Her prodigious work on floral still-life subjects likely led to her hyper-focused floral abstracts, the first of which she painted in 1946. Perhaps Fujio was inspired by her second son Hodaka's rebellious streak in teaching himself to paint oil abstracts secreted away from his father when he was supposed to be pursuing an degree in science, and her first son Toshi's recent success in experimenting with increasingly abstract works as well.

In 1953, while both sons and Hodaka's new wife Chizuko were all producing abstract woodblock prints, Fujio joined the family movement as well. According to Oliver Statler, while her first abstract print design was produced by professional artisans in 1953 (likely "Flowering Kale"), Fujio undertook the carving herself for the subsequent designs, although achieiving saturation of flat planes of color suggests some assistance from studio printers.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp. 171-172, illus. p. 178, no. 96
Laura W. Allen, ed., A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 154-159; p. 169, cat. no. 119
Amanda T. Zehnder, Modern Japanese Prints: The Twentieth Century, 2009, p. 185, accession no. 89.28.1476 (dated 1954)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, accession no. M.79.176.110
Minneapolis Institute of Art (collections.artmia.org), accession no. 2013.29.529
Art Institute of Chicago, reference no. 2013.24
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, recently acquired an impression of this work from the Yoshida Family Collection

(inv. no. C-3562)

SOLD

Fujio Yoshida

1887-1987

Flower-B

self-carved woodblock print; signed in pencil within the composition, Fujio Yoshida, with red artist's seal, followed by the title on the bottom margin, Flower-B, 1954

oban tate-e 15 3/4 by 10 5/8 in., 40.1 by 27 cm

Fujio's most dramatic artistic departure of all occured in the heady postwar period when she not only switched from watercolors to painting in oil, but also abandoned realism for abstractionism-a genre of art of which her husband, Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) strongly disapproved. Her prodigious work on floral still-life subjects likely led to her hyper-focused floral abstracts, the first of which she painted in 1946. Perhaps Fujio was inspired by her second son Hodaka's rebellious streak in teaching himself to paint oil abstracts secreted away from his father when he was supposed to be pursuing an degree in science, and her first son Toshi's recent success in experimenting with increasingly abstract works as well.

In 1953, while both sons and Hodaka's new wife Chizuko were all producing abstract woodblock prints, Fujio likewise joined in. According to Oliver Statler, while her first abstract print design was produced by professional artisans in 1953 (likely "Flowering Kale"), Fujio undertook the carving herself for the subsequent designs, although achieiving saturation of flat planes of color suggests some assistance from studio printers. Nevertheless, Statler includes her among the sosaku-hanga artists of "what is almost a one-family art movement."

Although stylistic comparisons are understandable, according to the family Fujio is quoted in a magazine interview stating that at the time she began producing her abstract floral paintings and then prints, she was not yet familiar with the similar themes explored by the American painter Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1886) in her large-scale paintings of close-ups of flowers from the 1920s-30s.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp. 167-172
Laura W. Allen, ed., A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 154-159

(inv. no. C-3560)

SOLD

Fujio Yoshida

1887-1987

Narcissus

self-carved woodblock print; signed and titled in pencil on the bottom margin, Fujio Yoshida, Narcissus, 1954

oban tate-e 15 7/8 by 10 7/8 in., 40.3 by 27.5 cm

Trained in Western-style painting with a particular affinity with watercolors, in the first decade of her artistic career Fujio painted landscapes and later, figural subjects. After a hiatus of nearly a decade following family tragedies in the early 1910s, her work in the 1920s and 1930s was primarily that of still life subjects. Fujio's most dramatic artistic development evolved in the heady postwar period when she not only switched from watercolors to painting in oil, but also abandoned realism for abstractionism- a genre of art of which her husband, the formidable Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950), strongly disapproved. Her prodigious work on floral still-life subjects likely led to her hyper-focused floral abstracts, the first of which she painted in 1946. Perhaps Fujio was inspired by her second son Hodaka's rebellious streak in teaching himself to paint oil abstracts secreted away from his father when he was supposed to be pursuing an degree in science, who likewise encouraged her first son Toshi to explore abstract expressionism in his work as well.

In 1953, while both sons and Hodaka's new wife Chizuko were all producing abstract woodblock prints, Fujio also began adapting her work to the woodblock print medium as well. According to Oliver Statler, while her first abstract print design was produced by artisans in 1953 (possibly "Flowering Kale"), Fujio undertook the carving herself for subsequent designs, although achieving saturation of flat planes of color suggests she may have had assistance from studio professionals with the printing of the blocks. Nevertheless, Statler includes Fujio among the sosaku-hanga artists of "what is almost a one-family art movement."

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp. 167-172
Laura W. Allen, ed., A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 154-159
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, recently acquired an impression of this work from the Yoshida Family Collection

(inv. no. C-3561)

SOLD

Acquired by the Carnegie Museum of Art

Fujio Yoshida

1887-1987

Ladyslipper Orchids

self-carved woodblock print; signed and dated in pencil on the bottom right margin, Fujio Yoshida 1954, with red artist's seal within the composition, titled on the bottom left margin, Ladyslipper Orchids, 1954

oban tate-e 16 by 10 7/8 in., 40.5 by 27.5 cm

In the mid-1920s when her husband Hiroshi established his own woodblock carving and printing studio, two of Fujio's designs were adpated as woodblock prints, Roses (in a vase), and Gold Fishes, both produced in 1926. The later exemplifies Fujio's talent in her ability to deftly capture the optical distortion of viewing goldfish while simultaneously looking down towards the surface of water and from the sides of an oblong fishbowl. Although both prints are attractive (and the realism of Gold Fishes is particularly accomplished), Fujio did not produce additional designs for the woodblock prints until almost thirty years later, when she revistied the format with an entirely different approach. From 1953 to 1954, Fujio would produce a total of ten abstract floral and one realistic floral woodblock prints, carving the blocks for all but one of the designs.

Although stylistic comparisons are understandable, according to the Yoshida family Fujio is quoted in a magazine interview stating that at the time she began producing her abstract floral paintings and then prints, she was not yet familiar with the similar themes explored by the American painter Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1886) in her large-scale paintings of close-ups of flowers from the 1920s-30s.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp. 167-172
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, recently acquired an impression of this work from the Yoshida Family Collection

(inv. no. C-3564)

SOLD

Acquired by the Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas

Fujio Yoshida

1887-1987

Flower-C (Calla Lily)

self-carved woodblock print; signed in pencil within the composition, Fujio Yoshida, followed by the title on the bottom margin, Flower-C, 1954

oban yoko-e 10 7/8 by 15 7/8 in., 27.5 by 40.3 cm

Fujio's most dramatic artistic departure of all occured in the heady postwar period when she not only switched from watercolors to painting in oil, but also abandoned realism for abstractionism-a genre of art of which her husband, Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) strongly disapproved. Her prodigious work on floral still-life subjects likely led to her hyper-focused floral abstracts, the first of which she painted in 1946. Perhaps Fujio was inspired by her second son Hodaka's rebellious streak in teaching himself to paint oil abstracts secreted away from his father when he was supposed to be pursuing an degree in science, and her first son Toshi's recent success in experimenting with increasingly abstract works as well.

In 1953, while both sons and Hodaka's new wife Chizuko were all producing abstract woodblock prints, Fujio likewise joined in. According to Oliver Statler, while her first abstract print design was produced by professional artisans in 1953 (likely "Flowering Kale"), Fujio undertook the carving herself for the subsequent designs, although achieiving saturation of flat planes of color suggests some assistance from studio printers. Nevertheless, Statler includes her among the sosaku-hanga artists of "what is almost a one-family art movement."

Although stylistic comparisons are understandable, according to the family Fujio is quoted in a magazine interview stating that at the time she began producing her abstract floral paintings and then prints, she was not yet familiar with the similar themes explored by the American painter Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1886) in her large-scale paintings of close-ups of flowers from the 1920s-30s. This design for this print is derived from a 1953 oil on canvas painting titled White Flower which was included in the museum exhibition, A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, held at the The Minneapolis Institute of Arts in 2002 and illustrated in the accompanying catalogue.

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

References:
The Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design (risdmuseum.org), object no. 2021.79.2
(inv. no. C-3596)

$1,200

Toshi Yoshida

1911-1995

No. 6

self-carved, self-printed; titled, signed, and dated in pencil on the bottom margin, No. 6, Toshi Yoshida, 1952

oban tate-e 16 1/8 by 10 7/8 in., 41 by 27.7 cm

Toshi Yoshida was the elsdest son of two artists, the formidable painter and pioneering self-publishing printmaker, Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950), and Fujio Yoshida (1887-1987), an equally talented painter (and later self-carving printmaker). After surviving a bout with polio as an infant, Toshi had limited mobility as a child and was forced to spend much of his time indoors, occupying himself by drawing mostly animals and making up elaborate stories about them. His skills were further fostered and guided by lessons from his parents. In 1925 when his father established his own studio to self-publish woodblock prints, fifteen-year old Toshi joined the atelier, learning all aspects of the process from the professional carvers and printers who worked for and with the elder Yoshida. As the eldest son, Toshi was expected to follow in his father's footsteps as a professional artist and work in the family business, with the understanding that he wold inherit all of the associated responsibilities as head of the family. Blessed both with talent and artistic legacy, but likewise burdened by both, Toshi adhered to, and was restrained by, his father's vision. While he produced prints in the 1920-30s which echoed Hiroshi's style, he pursued his own interests with his paintings, the subjects veering fom the landscapes of his father towards animals and and the ocean, sometimes depicting extreme close-ups of marine subjects.

Following the sudden passing of Hiroshi in 1950, Toshi continued to produce prints in his father's style, likely out of economic necessity in the post-war period. However, in 1952, he began to produce a series of abstract prints, each bearing a title simply of No. 1 through No. 12. Half were studies of form and color, half were figural white line prints, including this design. This print is likely the first abstract female nude woodblock print utilizing the white line style.

Provenance:
The Tsuruoka Family Collection (Kakunen Tsuruoka, artist, 1892-1977)

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp.168-169
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Toshi 1911-1999: Diversity, Change, and Continuity in the Yoshida Art Tradition, Andon 53,, Society for Japanese Arts, 1996, pp. 5-14, Fig. 5
Kendall H. Brown, Yoshida Toshi: The Nature of Tranquility, in, A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 72-80; p. 91, no. 55 for another abstract white line print, American Girl B, 1954)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, accession no. M.86.147.194
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, accession no. 2013.29.515

(inv. no. C-1512)

SOLD

Toshi Yoshida

1911-1995

No. 8

self-carved, self-printed woodblock print; titled, signed, and dated in penciled English on the bottom margin, No. 8, Toshi Yoshida, 1952

oban tate-e 16 1/4 by 11 in., 41.4 by 28 cm

In 1925 when Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) established his own studio to self-publish woodblock prints, fifteen-year old Toshi joined the atelier, learning all aspects of the process from the professional carvers and printers who worked for and with the elder Yoshida. As the eldest son, Toshi was expected to follow in his father's footsteps as a professional artist and work in the family business, with the understanding that he wold inherit all of the associated responsibilities as head of the family. Blessed both with talent and artistic legacy, but likewise burdened by both, Toshi adhered to, and was restrained by, his father's vision. While he produced prints in the which echoed Hiroshi's style, he pursued his own interests with his paintings, the subjects veering fom the landscapes of his father towards animals and and the ocean, sometimes depicting extreme close-ups of marine subjects.

Following the sudden passing of Hiroshi in 1950, Toshi continued to produce prints in his father's style, likely out of economic necessity in the post-war period. However, in 1952, ecouraged by his brother Hodaka's sucesses with abstract painting, Toshi began to produce a series of abstract prints, each with a numbered title from No. 1 through No. 12. Half of the designs were figural white line prints, the other half, including this work, were near-psychedelic abstractions of color.

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp.168-169
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Toshi 1911-1999: Diversity, Change, and Continuity in the Yoshida Art Tradition, Andon 53,, Society for Japanese Arts, 1996, pp. 5-14, Fig. 5
Kendall H. Brown, Yoshida Toshi: The Nature of Tranquility, in, A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 72-80

(inv. no. 10-4352)

$700

Toshi Yoshida

1911-1995

No. 10

self-carved, self-printed woodblock print; titled, signed, and dated in penciled English on the bottom margin, No. 10, Toshi Yoshida, 1952

oban tate-e 15 3/4 by 10 5/8 in., 40 by 27 cm

In 1925 when his father Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) established his own studio to self-publish woodblock prints, fifteen-year old Toshi joined the atelier, learning all aspects of the process from the professional carvers and printers who worked for and with the elder Yoshida. As the eldest son, Toshi was expected to follow in his father's footsteps as a professional artist and work in the family business, with the understanding that he wold inherit all of the associated responsibilities as head of the family. Blessed both with talent and artistic legacy, but likewise burdened by both, Toshi adhered to, and was restrained by, his father's vision. While he produced prints in the 1920-30s which echoed Hiroshi's style, he pursued his own interests with his paintings, the subjects veering fom the landscapes of his father towards animals and and the ocean, sometimes depicting extreme close-ups of marine subjects.

Following the sudden passing of Hiroshi in 1950, Toshi continued to produce prints in his father's style, likely out of economic necessity in the post-war period. However, in 1952, ecouraged by his younger brother Hodaka's sucesses with abstract painting, Toshi began to produce a series of abstract prints, each with a numbered title from No. 1 through No. 12. Half of the designs were figural white line prints, the other half, including this work, were near-psychedelic abstractions of color.

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp.168-169
Catalogue of Collections, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 1993, p. 262, no. 2525
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Toshi 1911-1999: Diversity, Change, and Continuity in the Yoshida Art Tradition, Andon 53,, Society for Japanese Arts, 1996, pp. 5-14, Fig. 5
Kendall H. Brown, Yoshida Toshi: The Nature of Tranquility, in, A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 72-80

(inv. no. 10-4351)

SOLD

Toshi Yoshida

1911-1995

No. 12

self-carved, self-printed woodblock print; titled, dated and signed in penciled English on the bottom margin, No. 12, Toshi Yoshida, 1953

oban tate-e 16 by 10 5/8 in., 40.7 by 27.1 cm

Following the sudden passing of Hiroshi Yoshida in 1950, Toshi continued to produce prints in his father's style, likely out of economic necessity in the post-war period. However, in 1952, he began to produce a series of abstract prints, each bearing a numbered title from No. 1 through No. 12. Half were studies of form and color, half, were figural white line prints, including this female nude.

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp.168-169
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Toshi 1911-1999: Diversity, Change, and Continuity in the Yoshida Art Tradition, Andon 53,, Society for Japanese Arts, 1996, pp. 5-14, Fig. 5
Kendall H. Brown, Yoshida Toshi: The Nature of Tranquility, in, A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 72-80
Art Institute of Chicago, reference no. 1953.614 (titled Opus no. 12)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, accession no. M.200.105.131

(inv. no. 10-4353)

$700

Toshi Yoshida

1911-1995

Floating

self-carved, self-printed woodblock print; titled, signed and dated on the bottom margin in penciled English, Floating, Toshi Yoshida, 1957

oban tate-e 15 5/8 by 11 in., 39.8 by 27.9 cm

Toshi Yoshida began to produce abstract woodblock prints in 1952, two years after the passing of his formidable father, Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950), who made it no secret that he disapproved of the genre. Toshi's initial forays into abstraction were titled only with numbers, 1 through 12. After that first series, subsequent prints were given more descriptive titles, such as this psychadelic composition, Floating.

Kendall Brown points out that Toshi's earlier abstracts which played with shapes reminiscent of lightning bolts or water ripples seemed to have evolved into the dancing ribbon-like shapes of this design which emerge from the double-printed moire background, noting that "Toshi once said that this print surpassed his original idea for it, the the process of carving and printing it clarified his mental concept."

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp.168-169
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Toshi 1911-1999: Diversity, Change, and Continuity in the Yoshida Art Tradition, Andon 53,, Society for Japanese Arts, 1996, pp. 5-14, Fig. 5
Kendall H. Brown, Yoshida Toshi: The Nature of Tranquility, in, A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 72-80; p. 93, no. 57
Harvard Art Museum, object no. 1968.140

(inv. no. 10-4354)

SOLD

Acquired by the Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas

Toshi Yoshida

1911-1995

Milky Way

self-carved, self-printed woodblock print; titled, signed and dated on the bottom margin in penciled English, Milky Way, Toshi Yoshida, 1958

oban tate-e 15 3/4 by 10 7/8 in., 40 by 27.6 cm

After Toshi Yoshida became the head of the family in 1950, there was a need to boost sales in order to restore the family's finances which were depleted following the war. In addition to marketing his father's work, in 1951 he produced seventeen print designs in the same traditional style, and he continued his father's practice of holding open houses with print-making demonstrations. In 1953 he embarked on his first (of many) extended trips abroad, visiting some thirty museums and university galleries in the United States, also managing to arrange exhibitions of woodblock prints by Yoshida family artists at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, as well as The Japan Society in New York. In 1955 he returned with his brother Hodaka to the United States, also visiting Mexico and Cuba. It was during the 1955 trip that Toshi visited the Grand Canyon, an excellent location for viewing the Milky Way.

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp.168-169
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Toshi 1911-1999: Diversity, Change, and Continuity in the Yoshida Art Tradition, Andon 53,, Society for Japanese Arts, 1996, pp. 5-14, Fig. 5
Kendall H. Brown, Yoshida Toshi: The Nature of Tranquility, in, A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 72-80

(inv. no. 10-4355)

SOLD

Acquired by the Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas

Toshi Yoshida

1911-1995

Plancton

self-carved, self-printed woodblock print; titled on the bottom margin in penciled English, Plancton, and in kanji, hozon-yo (reserve), and pencil signed and dated Toshi Yoshida, 1962

oban tate-e 16 1/4 by 11 in., 41.2 by 27.9 cm

Oliver Statler quotes Toshi Yoshida regarding comparing the subjects of his work with those of his father: "My father loved the mountains...so I turned to the sea." Toshi painted a series of underwater scenes in oil, and then a group of paintings depicting microscopic organisms living in seawater. From the artist's perspective: "From these paintngs it was an easy - I suppose inevitable - step to abstraction."

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp.168-169
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Toshi 1911-1999: Diversity, Change, and Continuity in the Yoshida Art Tradition, Andon 53,, Society for Japanese Arts, 1996, pp. 5-14, Fig. 5
Kendall H. Brown, Yoshida Toshi: The Nature of Tranquility, in, A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 72-80
National Museum of Asian Art, accession no. S2019.3.2116

(inv. no. 10-4356)

SOLD

Toshi Yoshida

1911-1995

Seaside

self-carved, self-printed woodblock print; titled, numbered, signed and dated in penciled English on the bottom margin, Seaside, 76/100, Toshi Yoshida, 1967

oban tate-e 15 3/4 by 10 3/4 in., 40 by 27.2 cm

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp.168-169
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Toshi 1911-1999: Diversity, Change, and Continuity in the Yoshida Art Tradition, Andon 53,, Society for Japanese Arts, 1996, pp. 5-14, Fig. 5
Kendall H. Brown, Yoshida Toshi: The Nature of Tranquility, in, A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 72-80

(inv. no. 10-4357)

SOLD

Toshi Yoshida

1911-1995

Isotope

self-carved, self-printed woodblock print; titled in penciled English on the bottom margin, Isotope, and in kanji, Doi genso, numbered 48/200, and signed and dated Toshi Yoshida 1968

oban tate-e 16 1/4 by 11 in., 41.4 by 28 cm

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp.168-169
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Toshi 1911-1999: Diversity, Change, and Continuity in the Yoshida Art Tradition, Andon 53,, Society for Japanese Arts, 1996, pp. 5-14, Fig. 5
Kendall H. Brown, Yoshida Toshi: The Nature of Tranquility, in, A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 72-80
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, accession no. 96.146.98

(inv. no. 10-4358)

$700

Toshi Yoshida

1911-1995

Fluorescent
(Keiko)

self-carved, self-printed woodblock print; titled, signed and dated in pencil on the bottom margin, Fluorescent, Keiko, Artist's proof, Toshi Yoshida 1969

oban tate-e 15 1/2 by 10 7/8 in., 39.3 by 27.6 cm

Reference:
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Toshi 1911-1999: Diversity, Change, and Continuity in the Yoshida Art Tradition, Andon 53,, Society for Japanese Arts, 1996, pp. 5-14, Fig. 5
Kendall H. Brown, Yoshida Toshi: The Nature of Tranquility, in, A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 72-80

(inv. no. 10-4360)

SOLD

Toshi Yoshida

1911-1995

Treasure (Artist's proof)

self-carved, self-printed; titled in penciled English on the bottom margin, Treasure, titled in kanji, Takara, Artist's proof, signed and dated, Toshi Yoshida, 1969

oban tate-e 15 1/2 by 10 3/4 in., 39.5 by 27.3 cm

Reference:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp.168-169
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Toshi 1911-1999: Diversity, Change, and Continuity in the Yoshida Art Tradition, Andon 53,, Society for Japanese Arts, 1996, pp. 5-14, Fig. 5
Kendall H. Brown, Yoshida Toshi: The Nature of Tranquility, in, A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 72-80

(inv. no. 10-4359)

SOLD

Toshi Yoshida

1911-1995

Autumn Season 45/200

self-carved, self-printed woodblock print; titled, numbered and signed in penciled English on the bottom margin, Autumn Season, 45/200, Toshi Yoshida 1973

oban tate-e 16 by 10 3/4 in., 40.6 by 27.2 cm

(inv. no. 10-4350)

References:
Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, 1959, pp.168-169
Eugene M. Skibbe, Yoshida Toshi 1911-1999: Diversity, Change, and Continuity in the Yoshida Art Tradition, Andon 53,, Society for Japanese Arts, 1996, pp. 5-14, Fig. 5
Kendall H. Brown, Yoshida Toshi: The Nature of Tranquility, in, A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 72-80

$700

Toshi Yoshida

1911-1995

American Girl A

self-carved, self-printed woodblock print; with karazuri ('blind printing') of the white lines; titled, signed, and dated in pencil on the bottom margin, American Girl A, Toshi Yoshida 1954, with red artist's seal within the composition on the lower left, Yoshida Toshi, 1954

oban tate-e 15 7/8 by 11 1/8 in., 40.3 by 28.2 cm

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

(inv. no. C-3621)

$900

Toshi Yoshida

1911-1995

Seashore

self-carved, self-printed woodblock print; titled, numbered, signed, and dated in pencil on the bottom margin, Seashore, 10/100, Toshi Yoshida 1962

oban tate-e 16 1/4 by 11 in., 41.2 by 28 cm

Oliver Statler quotes Toshi Yoshida regarding comparing the subjects of his work with those of his father: "My father loved the mountains...so I turned to the sea." Toshi painted a series of underwater scenes in oil, and then a group of paintings depicting microscopic organisms living in seawater. From the artist's perspective: "From these paintngs it was an easy - I suppose inevitable - step to abstraction," reflecting that though he knew his father would never approve, "I could not ignore the movement of the times and I began to break away from my former realistic approach two or three years after the war."

Provenance:
Yoshida Family Collection

(inv. no. C-3622)

$1,200