Exhibitions

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Yoshida Hiroshi: Memories of landscapes

2024.11.29(Fri) - 2025.01.21(Tue)

Overview

Yoshida Hiroshi (1876–1950) was a central figure in leading Western-style painting in the early 20th century Japan, whose influence extended to the genres of watercolor, oil painting and woodblock printing. He was 49 when his first print collection was published. Throughout his printing career, he strived to create a new style drawing both on the realistic rendering of European paintings and techniques of traditional Japanese woodblocks.
This exhibition curates approximately 70 prints from his work, with a focus on the artist’s passion for nature. His renditions of landscapes through his nature-loving gaze are juxtaposed with the photographic images of the same views of today.
Yoshida’s technical creativity enhances his work, which is highlighted in the museum’s exclusive digital presentation.

HIGHLIGHTS


1 Unique time axis

The museum team has produced a set of digital and photographic counterparts, showing the locations depicted in Yoshida’s prints. This offers a unique reference point that adds a temporal dimension to appreciate the intricacy of his work.

The Sea of Clouds at Houōzan, 1928

View from the summit of Mt. Houōzan

2 Yoshida Hiroshi’s masterpieces of world-famous landscapes

The curation includes his first private woodblock print album The United States Series, alluring variation of impressions from the “Sailing Boats” from the series The Inland Sea, and more.

MOUNT RAINIER, from The United States Series, 1925

THE GRAND CANYON, from The United States Series, 1925

SAILING BOATS, Morning, from The Inland Sea Series, 1926

SAILING BOATS, Night, from The Inland Sea Series, 1926

3 Original high-resolution digital content

Yoshida’s woodblock prints are characterized by their rich layers. About 30 blocks are used in one impression on average, up to nearly 100 for some compositions.
This painstaking process of printing one layer on top of another culminates in the vibrant chromatic rendering, enhancing the sense of texture, depth and airiness which Yoshida perceived in the scenes of nature.

KAMEIDO, from the Twelve Scenes of Tokyo, 1927, with 88 blocks

YŌMEIMON GATE, 1937, with 96 blocks

ALSO INCLUDE


EL CAPITAN, from The United States Series
Yoshida Hiroshi, 1925

CANAL IN VENICE, from the Europe Series
Yoshida Hiroshi, 1926

SPHINX, from the Europe Series
Yoshida Hiroshi, 1925

SPHINX, Night, from the Europe Series
Yoshida Hiroshi, 1925

TSURUGIZAN—Morning, from the series Twelve Scenes in the Japan Alps
Yoshida Hiroshi, 1926

Camping at Mt. Washibadake, from the series Twelve Scenes in the Japan Alps
Yoshida Hiroshi, 1926

Morning Mist at the Taj Mahal No. 5, from the India and Southeast Asia Series
Yoshida Hiroshi, 1932

Victoria Memorial, from the India and Southeast Asia Series
Yoshida Hiroshi, 1931

Yoshida Hiroshi the artist


Yoshida Hiroshi (1876–1950) was born into a feudal samurai family, the Uedas, in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka. He moved to Tokyo at the age of 18 and enrolled at Fudosha, an art school led by Koyama Shōtarō (1957–1916). Then in 1899, aged 23, he decided to travel to North America with his watercolor paintings and the little money he had, taking his younger colleague Nakagawa Hachirō as a companion. He exhibited at the Detroit Institute of Arts (then Detroit Museum of Art) and other galleries, making a significant sale of his work. Having earned sufficient funds, he extended the voyage to Europe before returning to Japan two years later. In 1903, he made his second voyage to the USA, this time with his foster sister and future wife, Fujio. They spent the subsequent three years traveling in America as well as in Europe. The exposure to traditional as well as contemporary Western art inspired him to a great extent, from which he derived a motivation to improve his drawing skills. He later played a key role in founding Japan’s first art association of Western paintings. Yoshida was 44 when he met Watanabe Shozaburo, an art publisher, who published his first woodblock print, entitled The Sacred Garden in Meiji Shrine. Initially his involvement was only producing sketches. The catastrophic earthquake of 1923 which devastated Tokyo prompted him to traveled to America once again to raise a fund with an intention to help the artists who fell victim to the disaster by selling their paintings. During this trip, he recognized the immense popularity Japanese woodblock prints enjoyed in this country. He felt the need to update Japanese woodcuts, merging the traditional techniques with Western realism, to develop a new style. He returned to Japan in 1925 and published a woodblock collection. He was 49, and this was his first foray to oversee the entire process of production. His new passion for woodcut drove him to printmaking in the following years with as much enthusiasm as he had for oil painting.