<b>FLOWERING KALE</b> / Fujio Yoshida1954<b>SOLD</b></em>

Details

Fujio Yoshida was an accomplished oil painter and watercolorist when she married the artist Hiroshi Yoshida in 1907. Yoshida traveled with her husband to the U.S. in the early part of the 20th century. They held joint art exhibitions and worked side-by-side painting the important natural and cultural treasures they visited—all executed in the field, utilizing the technique of plein air painting. Abroad, Yoshida’s original work sold as well as her husband’s artwork and she primarily focused on painting.

After his death in 1950, Yoshida began working in woodblock prints. Her print designs principally dealt with still lives and florals. Influenced by her son Hodaka and his wife, Chizuko’s abstract work, Yoshida produced striking floral designs with strong elements of abstraction that are reminiscent of Georgia O’Keefe’s work.

“Flowering Kale” is a design Yoshida created after her husband’s death. Hiroshi Yoshida was against abstraction and probably would not have approved of her decidedly modern designs. With striking undulating organic forms, the print is built on shades of purple and gray set against a contrasting yellow and green background. The design is bold and lyrical with a strong footing in realism, as the work is more a shift in perspective showcasing a close-up view of an orchid. Yet, the perspective is fresh and compelling, pushing the boundaries of realism into a new pictorial territory for woodblock prints.

Connoisseur's Note

Fujio Yoshida’s woodblock prints from this period are quite scarce, as she did not produce work in large quantities. Making this work even more desirable, 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.