Artist: Yoshida Hiroshi (1876-1950)
Title: The Grand Canyon Date: 1925
Bright version of this famous design, which incorporates more vibrant contrast and colors than the more often encountered version with softer colors that perhaps reflects a different time of day. Yoshida is known for the perfect verisimilitude of his colors to what our eyes see in landscapes, including differences seen during various times of day. The paintings and sketches for this work were made during Yoshida’s third trip to the United States in 1923-24. In 1924 he visited the Grand Canyon, and he was so moved by the sight that he stayed for nine days to paint, sketch and observe. There is an oil painting that almost “matches” this viewpoint in the 2016 Japanese exhibition catalog on the artist (p. 132, number 4-12). In 1925 Yoshida set up his own printmaking studio in his house and began translating the sights he had seen abroad into woodblock prints. The result was the United States series of six prints, and the Europe series of eleven prints. Prior to this, Yoshida had created deven prints that were published by Watanabe Shozaburo, with the blocks sadly destroyed in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. The red jizuri seal and large upper margin are considered characteristics of an early impression and this brighter palette; it’s possible that this is the earliest version of this design. One does wonder why this brighter version is not shown in the Abe catalogue raisonné, nor in the 2016 Japanese catalog, as it is so different from the lighter version. In 2024 an example of this version of this design sold at auction for $15,000. Scarce.
Condition: Excellent impression and color; very good condition. Dimensions: ôban (28.8 x 41.2 cm)
Seal: “Jizuri” (self-printed) plus red artist’s seal
Signature: Yoshida (in brush)
SKU: YOS241
