<b>HAKUBASAN</b> / Hiroshi Yoshida1926<b>SOLD</b></em>

Details

Hiroshi Yoshida was an accomplished hiker and mountaineer as much as he was an artist. Yoshida took full advantage of his travels and painted the important natural treasures he visited—all executed in the field, utilizing the technique of plein air painting. Yoshida’s twelve woodblock prints from his Japanese Alps series were all conceived on his expeditions, and are based on oil or watercolor paintings he produced onsite, which accounts for the strong realism in the designs, a quality rarely encountered in Japanese prints.

Though not as widely known, the Japanese Alps are as majestic and difficult to summit as their Swiss counterparts. Yoshida made repeated treks up these steep climbs and in 1926 he immortalized the journey. In this design, Yoshida provides the viewer with an expansive view of the summit of Shirouma-dake, also known affectionately by the name Hakuba-san. Though majestic and serene, Yoshida hints at the difficulty of the journey up, as the mountainous forms seem animated—twisting and churning with a dynamic quality while the cascading fog at the lower center alludes to the depths below.

Connoisseur's Note

This impression is a rarely seen variant state with a brighter and stronger coloration, particularly noticeable in the pinks and blues of the sky as well as the pinks, browns, and greens of the mountains. The print bears the early brown-red jizuri seal and a brush and pencil signature, indicating it was produced under Yoshida’s strict supervision.

Unlike the standard version, this early variant impression required the use of additional printing blocks to produce the intensity of color and striking contrasting bokashi, or color gradation, which provides the work with a strong atmospheric quality and a profound sense of light. This impression is a rare glimpse of the artist at work in the start of his printmaking career. At this time, Yoshida was deliberating on how to best produce prints with the highest artistic quality while hammering out the economic viability of his production methods. The rarity and expressive quality of this early variant impression are exceptional.