Artist Information
Artist
Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950)Role
PrintmakerDate made
1926Time Period
20th CenturyNotes
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Born in Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan, Hiroshi Yoshida, print-maker and painter, was a leading figure of the ‘Shin Hanga’ (New Print) movement that revived traditional Japanese woodblock printing in the early 20th century. Well-traveled and knowledgeable of Western aesthetics, he sustained his loyalty to Japanese tradition.
His early artistic aptitude for art was fostered by his adoptive father, Kasaburo Yoshida, a public school art teacher. He later left Kurume to study with Soritsu Tamura (1846-1918) in Kyoto, subsequently moving to Tokyo and joined Koyama Shotaro's (1857-1916) Fudosha private school and the Meiji Fine Arts Society. There, Yoshida studied Western-style painting, winning exhibition prizes and making several trips to the United States, Europe and northern Africa selling his watercolours and oil paintings. In 1902, he played a leading role in the reorganization of the Meiji Fine Arts Society as the Taiheiyo-Gakai (Pacific Painting Association). He traveled again to the United States, Europe and northern Africa, 1903-1907. He became a very successful painter in oil and watercolour in the light and airy style he had learned from the West.
In 1920 Yoshida began to design woodblock prints for the artist Sadeo Watanabe (1913-1996), but unfortunately in 1923 all was lost in the Kanto earthquake. Soon after Yoshida left for the United States to raise funds for himself and others, he realized that Ukiyo-e genre woodblock prints were much desired in North America and beyond. On his return, Yoshida set up his own establishment to produce his own designs in print form. From 1925 onward, Yoshida devoted his career mainly to prints, and their high quality production. He specialized in landscapes inspired both by his native country and his many travels abroad. His “Japanese Woodblock Printing”, a comprehensive guide to the craft of woodblock printing, was published in 1939 and he designed his last print in 1946, although he continued to paint until his death four years later. Of note, the artistic legacy of the Yoshida family includes eight artists.
