Hiroshi Yoshida

Hiroshi Yoshida was a Japanese painter and woodblock printmaker. He is one of the greatest artists of the shin-hanga (‘new prints’) style, an early 20th-century art movement in Japan that revitalised the traditional ukiyo-e art from the Edo and Meiji periods. Yoshida is renowned for his serene landscapes from his travels. They depict iconic sites, like the Taj Mahal, the Acropolis, the Sphinx and the Grand Canyon.

Yoshida was born in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, in Kyushu, in 1876. He was the son of Ueda Tsukane, a schoolteacher from an old samurai family. In 1891, he was adopted by his art teacher, Yoshida Kasaburo, and took his surname. At 19, he was sent to Kyoto to study under Tamura Shoryu, a well-known teacher of Western-style paintings. He then studied under Koyama Shotaro in Tokyo for another three years.

Yoshida first gained recognition as a painter, exhibiting his oil and watercolour paintings in Japan and abroad. His international experience led to an invitation to the United States. He held several successful exhibitions there. While abroad, Yoshida became fascinated by the vivid colours and unique textures of woodblock printing. This led him to study the medium in greater depth. He soon joined the shin-hanga movement. It sought to revive traditional Japanese printmaking. It aimed to add Western realism, light, and shadow to woodblock prints.

Yoshida’s background in Western-style painting greatly influenced his approach to woodblock printing. He was inspired by French Impressionists who depicted the same subject in various lighting conditions. Yoshida embraced this approach. He created prints of the same scene at different times of day, in changing weather, and under diverse lighting. Yoshida’s works skilfully combined Eastern and Western aesthetics. They captured the essence of both worlds in his art.

In addition to his work in woodblock printing, Yoshida continued to paint in oil and watercolour throughout his career. Unusually for the time, he set up his own printmaking studio. It let him oversee the entire creative process — from design to carving and printing. His studio became a hub for high-quality work.

His art was briefly interrupted when he served as a war correspondent in Manchuria during the Pacific War. After his death in 1950, Yoshida’s works continued to influence subsequent generations of Japanese printmakers, contributing to the post-war revival of the shin-hanga movement. Yoshida prints are held in prestigious collections worldwide, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Tokyo National Museum.