Chizuko Yoshida

1924-2017

Butterfly B

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

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-3593)

price: $1,200