Biography
Toshi Yoshida (1911-1995) was a Tokyo born Japanese printmaker and painter recognized for his connection to the early 20th-century Sosaku-Hanga Movement. This movement championed the principle that a single artist should execute all aspects of their work—drawing, carving, and printing—rather than delegating tasks to assistants.
Yoshida honed his artistic skills under the tutelage of his father, the renowned landscape artist Hiroshi Yoshida. At the age of 19, he embarked on a sketching tour of India and Southeast Asia with his father. Following his father's passing in 1950, Toshi embarked on a new artistic direction, venturing into abstract art. He reflected on this shift, stating, "It was an easy—I suppose inevitable—step to abstraction, but it was a step my father could never approve. Still I could not ignore the movement of the times and I began to break away from my former realistic approach." He subsequently created over 300 non-objective woodblock prints.
Toshi Yoshida passed away in Tokyo, Japan, on July 1, 1995, at the age of 83. His work is held in prominent collections, including The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.