Background
Yoshida Hodaka (1926–95) was born in Tokyo, the second son of the eminent artist Yoshida Hiroshi (1896–91950). He was the brother of the artist Yoshida Toshi (1911–995) and husband of Yoshida Chizukô (吉田千鶴子 1924–2017, also an artist. He started working in oils, but after he graduated from Tokyo University, he began printmaking in 1950. He was a member of the Japan Print Association (Nihon Hanga Kyôkai 日本洋画協会 founded in 1931). He traveled extensively in the U.S., Europe, Middle East, and Mexico. For a brief time, he taught woodblock techniques in the U.S. His early works were often abstract woodblocks, but he later developed photo-etchings with woodblock-printed backgrounds and more representational subjects.
Tthe total range of his work — about 600 prints over 45 years — reveals distinct periods, each having major changes in subject matter, vocabulary, style, and color palette. His styles, while always his own, drew from Modernism, Buddhism, Primitivism, Expressionism, Folk Art, Pop Art, Photorealism, and Color-Field abstraction
Design:
This brightly colored print is a bold variation on the style of work produced by Hodaka soon after his trip to Mexico in 1955; what he saw there inspired a phase of printmaking through 1963 that Eugene Skibbe characterized as "primitive energy prints." Deeply moved by Mayan sculpture and architecture in the Yucatan, Hodaka references pre-Columbian imagery with his own visual vocabulary, assembling bold shapes printed in saturated colors. While the title of the print, Altar, is readily identifiable from the composition, the objects on display are mysterious, with the exception of the upended artist's palette balancing on the far right edge.
Note that this impression still includes the kentc (Pass mark 見当) or registration marks consisting of the guides kagi (鍵 or 鑰) in the far lower left corner of the paper and the "draw stop" or linear-notch hikitsuki (引き付け) in the lower edge of the paper just right of center. Nearly always these marks are trimmed, so it is a bonus to have them intact on this sheet.
In 1980, Hodaka became a director of the Japan Artists Association, and in 1990 he was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon (Shiju Hôshô 紫綬褒章), one of Japan's prestigious Medals of Honor, established in 1955 to recognize individuals with remarkable, outstanding accomplishments in academics, arts, culture, sports, and science/technology. Hodaka received, posthumously, from the Emperor, the fourth Order of the Rising Sun Medal (Kyokujitsu Shôju-shô 勲四等旭日小綬章) in 1995, generally considered the highest "ordinary" class of the order, awarded for meritorious service in civil or military fields.
Another impression was exhibited at the Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll Garden, Making a Good Impression: Art on Paper from Japan, China, and Korea, North Salem, New York, July 27 – November 17, 2024. Many of Yoshida Hodaka's watercolors and skecthes are housed in the Fuchû Art Museum (Fuchû Shibijutsukan 府中市美術館) in the Fuchû no Mori Park, Tokyo.
References:
- Allen, Laura, et al.: A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002.
- Scholten Japanese Art: https://www.scholten-japanese-art.com/printsH/4094
- Skibbe, Eugene Yoshida Hodaka: Magic, Artifact, and Art, in A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 110-120
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