Background
Tôshi Yoshida (吉田遠志 1911-1995) was the eldest son of Yoshida Hiroshi with whom he studied beginning at the age of fourteen. From 1932 to 1935 Tôshi also studied at the Taiheiyo-Gakai (Pacific Painting Association) which had been co-founded by his father. Before the Pacific War, Tôshi traveled widely with his father in Asia, Europe, Egypt, and the United States. In subsequent years, he continued to travel on his own, especially in Mexico, the United States, Canada, and Africa. He remained in his father's studio until Hiroshi's death in 1950 and ran the studio thereafter.
Yoshida Tôshi, working in the shadow of his rather demanding father, adopted Hiroshi's naturalistic drawing and compositional style up until the elder Yoshida's death in 1950. However, he tended to avoid the complex and painterly effects that were for his father essential elements of print design. By contrast, Tôshi's approach differed in surface appearance, as he frequently printed with brighter colors applied in a more uniform manner. Even so, some of his designs, just like his father's, required many carved blocks and numerous printing stages. He sometimes selected subjects that his father did not embrace, such as views of the sea and wildlife, and it is in these prints that he truly found his own voice. Moreover, soon after his Hiroshi's death, Tôshi's "rebellion" fully emerged as he began making abstract prints in the sôsaku hanga manner without the collaboration of his workshop. Nevertheless, from the early 1960s, he returned to representational art, often on a large scale, doing some of his best work on scenes of wildlife in natural habitats, most notably in Africa.
In 1966, Tôshi and the artist Yuki Rei (1928-2003) published Japanese Print Making: A Handbook of Traditional and Modern Techniques, which was widely influential in the printmaking world.
For more about this artist, see Yoshida Tôshi Biography.
Note about editions: Lifetime signatures are pencil signed, whereas posthumous printings have stamped signatures. However, very late in his career, when illness and weakness in his writing hand prevented Tôshi from signing, he supervised studio printings and, on impressions he approved, used a printed signature accompanied by an embossed seal. The same applies for both numbered and unlimited editions. Numabe Shinkichi (or Numabe)is one of the primary printers for later and posthumous editions of Toshi Yoshida's work. Komatsu Heihachi is yet another key printer. The vast majority of Tôshi's designs were issued in unlimited editions and many are still being printed by the Yoshida Studio. So care must be taken to verify that the signature is in pencil, not printed or impressed to mimic the real thing. Also, posthumous prints often have a printer's stamp on the back
Design
"Moving Stone" is one of many abstracts deisgned by Toshi in the 1950s-60s once he was free from his father Hiroshi's (1876-1950) opprobrium against non-representational art. Among Toshi's abstract motifs one can find the influence of ancient writing, primitive Mexican sculpture, and Navajo textiles. Some of his abstracts explore what appears to be a personal cosmology, featuring forms that suggest astral imagery. Toshi's symbolism is sometimes difficult to decipher, but his abstracts always demonstrate technical mastery of design, carving, and printing, and many are experimental in their forms.The title "Walking Stone" suggestes that there is an anthropomorphic element among the forms of this composition.
Yoshida Tôshi's prints and paintings are in many collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago; British Museum, London; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Cincinnati Art Museum; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA; Krakow National Museum; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Minneapolis Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; MOA Museum, Atami, Japan; New York Museum of Modern Art; National Museum of Australia, Canberra; National Museums of Scotland; Paris National Library; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Portland Art Museum; Seattle Museum of Art; Sydney Museum, Australia; Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art; and Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio.
References:
- Allen, Laura, et al.: A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002.
- Skibbe, Eugene: Yoshida Toshi: Nature, Art, and Peace. Edina, MN: Seascape Publications, 1996.
- Yoshida, Toshi & Rei Yuki. Japanese Printmaking, A Handbook of Traditional & Modern Techniques. Rutland, VT & Tokyo: Tuttle, 1966.
There are many books and websites that include information about Yoshida Tôshi, as well as modern Japanese prints. Readers are encouraged to explore these sources of information.
Return to