<b>NIGHT IN TAJ MAHAL NO. 6</b> / Hiroshi Yoshida1932<b>SOLD</b></em>

Details

As an avid traveler with an unshakable wanderlust, Yoshida took full advantage of his trips abroad by painting the important historical treasures he visited—all executed in the field, utilizing the technique of plein air painting. Yoshida’s thirty-two woodblock prints from his India and Southeast Asia series were all conceived on one of his travels to the region 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.

A gentle night has descended on this iconic structure. The entire scene is clad in a myriad of blues that saturate the design with an astonishing realism of moonlight that is poetic and spellbinding. The figures in the foreground loiter about the grounds as the light of a lone flame at center marks the entrance to this lasting memorial to love.

It is interesting to note that this double oban size print is one of two versions, the other design utilizes the same blocks but is imprinted differently to produce a design in the light of day. Yoshida is well known for producing a multitude of effects as well as variant impressions utilizing the same color blocks. As is the case with his Sailing Boat series from 1921 and 1926, this design illustrates the amazing range printers can achieve in this medium.

Connoisseur's Note

The print bears a jizuri seal with a pencil and brush signature, indicating it was produced under Yoshida’s strict supervision. It also bears noting that the vast majority of oversized Yoshida prints were framed and displayed over the years. As such, many have lost the original intensity of their colors. This impression was never framed or displayed for extended periods of time ensuring the colors are in a pristine state of preservation, appearing as vivid today as they were the day the work was produced.