Toshi Yoshida: Alteration

Artist: Toshi Yoshida (1911-1995)
Title: Symbol  Date: 1964

In this impactful design that is made even stronger by its large size, deep reds that shift from crimson to maroon contain an almost cellular matrix of yellow elements. In contrast are bright lavender areas that appear almost like accretions; these also have fragmented, crystalline matrices within them. Toshi Yoshida did view and then paint images of organic forms as seen through a microscope after World War II, and we can sense the stability of cellular life within this design. The artist moved away from his father’s naturalism to abstraction in 1949, and in 1950 resigned from the Pacific Painting Society to join the new “Plus” group, to which his brother Hodaka and his future wife Chizuko belonged. He shifted to abstract woodcuts in 1952. As Kendall Brown noted in “A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists”, abstract works from this period “...signal his desire to use color, shape, line and texture expressively to capture the nature of human experience or the human experience of nature”. (Page 76). Signed, sealed and titled by the artist, with the limited edition number of 29/100 at bottom.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. Pencil writing is lightly smudged at bottom margin. Dimensions: 54.7 x 40 cm Publisher: Self-published by the artist
Signature: Toshi Yoshida (in pencil, lower right)

References: See Portland Museum of Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art, LACMA. Allen, Laura W. et al, A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, 2002.

SKU: YTA016