Yoshida Hiroshi 吉田博: Calm Wind 風静 (Sold)

Artist: Yoshida Hiroshi (1876-1950) 吉田博
Title: Calm Wind 風静
Date: 1937

A traditional wooden sailboat crosses the setting sun’s brilliant path on the evening’s shimmering waters, heading for harbor. We see several boats at mooring up ahead on the left. The play of the sun on the water involves extraordinary craftsmanship on behalf of the printers and carvers. This work was collected in Japan by a member of the US Office of Civilian Personnel in the late 1940s, and it came with a small newspaper clipping that reads:

 “The Art Exhibit in room 201 of the Tokyo Army Educational Center will open its doors August 5-10 for an exhibition of wood-cut prints by Hiroshi Yoshida, one of the most prominent wood-cut artists in Japan. For those interested in processes involved in printing, the artist will give demonstrations on Wednesday and Friday, August 7 and 9”. 

Yoshida was clearly very comfortable with Americans, as he had travelled to the US in the early 1900s and was fluent in English, and aimed much of his printmaking efforts towards the western market. During the war he had no choice but to work for the Japanese government, making sketches and paintings of occupied territories in Korea and China. We can see by this newspaper clipping that as soon as he could be among interested Americans again after the war, he jumped at the opportunity.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. Never framed.
Dimensions: oban (39 x 26.1 cm)
Publisher: Self-published by the artist.
Literature: Ogura, Yoshida Hiroshi zenhangashu (The Complete Woodblock Prints of Hiroshi Yoshida), 1987, no. 219. 
Seal: Artist’s red seal, lower left and "jizuri" in left margin. There is also a blindprinted seal in the paper, lower right, that reads "Yoshida".
Signature: Hiroshi Yoshida in pencil and Yoshida in ink

SKU: YOC215K