Hiroshi Yoshida (Japanese, 1876-1950). Japanese shin-hang woodblock print titled “Three Little Islands” depicting a calm ocean scene with two boats floating peacefully floating on the water with three islands in the background, 1930. Jizuri seal along the left margin. Pencil signed along the lower right; pen titled along the lower left; ink titled along the lower left margin; marked with Yoshida’s seal in plate along the lower right; further inscribed in Japanese along the left margin. The jizuri “self-printed” seal indicates that the printing process was directly supervised by him and that he played an active role in the creation of this print.

These seals were typically reserved for only the highest quality impressions as decided by Yoshida. One of the leading figures in the Japanese Shin-hanga movement, Hiroshi Yoshida was born in Fukuoka in 1876. In 1893, he moved to Kyoto and studied yoga and nihonga styles of painting and watercolors. It came only in middle age he started collaborating with the shin-hanga publisher Watanabe Shozaburo. Despite his late debut as a shin-hanga printmaker, he successfully put himself on the map as the greatest artist of the shin-hanga style and is especially noted for his excellent landscape prints. His prints are highly recognized in both Japan and overseas.

Height: 11 in x Width: 16 1/4 in.