The Complete Woodblock Prints of Yoshida Hiroshi

Rating:
Summary: One of my all time favorites
Review: Beautiful artwork, beautifully reproduced. I somehow stumbled on this guy and bought the book based entirely on the cover image displayed here. Boy, I am not sorry - the rest of the images are just as great: striking subjects, with fantastic colors

...

Rating:
Summary: Appealing and Authoritative Book about Japanese Print Master
Review: Steeped in traditional Japanese culture and trained early in Western art techniques, Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) combined these two sensibilities to revive and renew the ancient art of Japanese woodblock printing on the verge of its disappearance as Japan embraced modernization at the beginning of the 20th century. This book is a comprehensive introduction for those new to Yoshida's work, and a valuable aid to the sophisticated print collector. Excellent color reproductions of 259 woodblock prints plus 20 works in other media shine in a generous and uncluttered format that encourages leisurely enjoyment of each masterpiece. The cosmopolitan Yoshida recorded his travels in India, China, Korea and the United States in his art. A passionate mountaineer, Yoshida translated sketches from his climbing expeditions into stunning prints, in such series as "Twelve Scenes in the Japan Alps." He also captured scenes of Japan's disappearing traditional life in evocative prints such as "Honest Grocery", "A Small Restaurant at Night" and "Farmhouse." In perhaps his greatest works, Yoshida combines his skill in rendering both the monumental and the domestic to show that human existence is at once small and precious. He uses vast mountain landscapes as backdrops for intimate groups of climbers gathered around evening fires or sheltered in tents or caves as they sing and tell stories. Text and captions are in both English and Japanese. Inclusions of full margins on each print reproduction permits study of Japanese and English titles, signatures, dates and seals. A chronological survey of the prints, an illustrated artistic and personal biography, memoirs by Yoshida's artist sons and short essays on Yoshida's career round out this lovely book.