Hiroshi Yoshida

"Toshogu Shrine" Japanese Woodblock Print

1937

Hiroshi Yoshida, 'Chion-in Temple Gate (Sunset)' from the series 'Eight Scenes of Cherry Blossoms (Sakura hachi dai: Sakura mon)', color woodblock print, 1935. Signed in brush 'Yoshida' and in pencil 'Hiroshi Yoshida'. A superb, early impression, with fresh colors; the full sheet with margins, on cream Japan paper; an area of slight toning in the top right sheet corner, not affecting the image, otherwise in excellent condition. Marked with a jizuri (self-printed) seal, upper left margin. Self-published by the artist. Image size 9 5/8 x 14 3/4 inches (444 x 375 mm); sheet size 10 7/8 x 16 inches (276 x 406 mm). Archivally sleeved, unmatted. Provenance: M. Nakazawa, Tokyo. Literature: Japanese Landscapes of the 20th Century (Hotei Publishing calendar), 2001, May. Collections: Honolulu Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. ABOUT THE IMAGE Located in Kyoto, Chionin is the main temple of the Jodo sect of Japanese Buddhism, one of the most popular Buddhist sects in Japan, having millions of followers. The Sanmon Gate, Chionin's entrance gate, standing 24 meters tall and 50 meters wide, it is the largest wooden temple gate in Japan and dates back to the early 1600s. Behind the gate, a broad set of stairs leads to the main temple grounds. ABOUT THE ARTIST Painter and printmaker Yoshida Hiroshi (1876-1950) is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the Japanese 'shin hanga' (New Print) movement. Yoshida was born as the second son of Ueda Tsukane in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, a schoolteacher from an old samurai family. In 1891 he was adopted by his art teacher Yoshida Kasaburo in Fukuoka and took his surname. In 1893 he went to Kyoto to study painting, and the following year to Tokyo to join Koyama Shotaro's Fudosha private school; he also became a member of the Meiji Fine Arts Society. These institutions taught and advocated Western-style painting, greatly influencing Yoshida’s artistic development. In 1899 Yoshida had his first American exhibition at Detroit Museum of Art (now Detroit Institute of Art), making the first of many visits to the US and Europe. In 1902 he helped reorganize the Meiji Fine Arts Society, renaming it the Taiheiyo-Gakai (Pacific Painting...

The present woodcut engraving is an original print designed by Winslow Homer, originally published in Harper's Weekly on April 30, 1859. It is an excellent example of the many prints Homer produced of fashionable people engaged in leisurely activities, in this case along a picturesque countryside lane. The sign reading 'Belmont' on the left indicates this is probably near his home in Belmont Massachusetts. The image presents multiple figures, both men and women, riding horseback: Some in the distance gallop away, toward a town marked by a church steeple beyond. Three others in the foreground, including two equestrian women, gather around a group of children who have been gathering flowers and trapping birds...

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The print 'Jones Island' is something of a self portrait. In the image, an artist stands before and easel, depicting the docks and buildings on the coast. The title indicates that this is Jones Island in Milwaukee, the peninsula along Lake Michigan that today is home to largely industrial buildings. The buildings and figures in the print suggest that this might be a view of the last of the Kashubian or German immigrant settlements on the peninsula before they were evicted in the 1940s to make way for the development of the harbor. The artist in the image thus acts as a documentarian of these peoples. The careful line-work of the woodblock engraving adds a sense of expressionism to the scene, leaving the figures and buildings looking distraught and dirty, though the image nonetheless falls into the Social Realist category that dominated American artists during the Great Depression. This print was published in 1936 as part of the Wisconsin Artists' Calendar for the year 1937, which included 52 original, hand-made prints – one for each week of the year. 6 x 5 inches, image 10 x 7.13 inches, sheet 13.43 x 12.43 inches, frame Signed "GS" in the print block,upper left Entitled "Jones Island" lower left (covered by matting) Inscribed "Wood Engraving" lower center (covered by matting) Artist name "Gerrit V. Sinclair" lower right (covered by matting) Framed to conservation standards using 100 percent rag matting and museum glass, all housed in a silver gilded moulding. Gerrit Sinclair studied at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1910 - 1915, under Vanderpoel, Norton, and Walcott. In World War I, he served in the Army Ambulance Corps and later recorded his experiences in a series of oil paintings. He taught in Minneapolis before arriving in Milwaukee in 1920 to become a member of the original faculty of the Layton School of Art. He was also a member of the Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors. Sinclair's paintings and drawings were executed in a lyrical, representational style, usually expressing a mood rather than a narrative. His paintings reveal a great sensitivity for color and atmosphere. His subject matter focused on cityscapes, industrial valleys, and working-class neighborhoods, captured from eye-level. A decade before the popularity of Regionalism, Sinclair's strong interest in the community was reflected not only in his paintings, but also in his encouragement to students to return to their communities as artists and teachers. Joseph Friebert...

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