THE ARTIST – HIROSHI YOSHIDA

Hiroshi Yoshida was a Japanese artist who was born in 1876 and died in 1950. Deemed a leader in the resurrection of Japanese printmaking after the Meiji period, you would see a blend of artists in this renewal known as Shin Hanga, which are new Japan or modern prints and Sosaku Hanga, which means creative prints or movement. Hiroshi Yoshida was born to a school principal teaching at an elementary institution. It was easy to see that Hiroshi Yoshida was extremely talented at a very young age. By the age of 18, he was allowed to study in a Tokyo private school. At first, Hiroshi Yoshida worked as a painter. This artist won a number of prizes for his exhibitions but not until 1920 was he working to create woodblock prints. Around that time, he was introduced to Watanabe Shozaburo who owned a print store in Tokyo. Along with several unknown but willful artists, Hiroshi Yoshida began painting woodblock prints with Watanabe publishing the first ever made. Read More...

THE ARTIST – HARUNOBU

Suzuki Harunobu’s career of painting woodblock prints began in 1725 and lasted until 1770. As a student of Shigenaga, he soon became one of the most cherished of all Ukiyo-e style artists. In fact, historians tell us that Harunobu was an innovator. In 1765, he has credit for being the first artist to produce full-color prints, which meant the older style of two and three-color prints was put to rest. The other issue surrounding Harunobu that makes him unique is that he ventured away from standard techniques, coming up with new, innovative methods of painting. In addition, this artist was known for painting a large variety of things ranging from contemporary style beautiful women to classical poems. Just as many other famous artists from this period, Harunobu became involved with painting exotic women in the Shunga style. He was so detailed and skilled at what he did that a number of other artists began to imitate Harunobu’s style, actually allowing him to become known as an incredible master. Read More ...