Third cave temple in Ellora

One of the foremost <em>shin-hanga</em> ('modern print') Japanese artists of the early to mid 20th century, Yoshida Hiroshi (1876-1950) was a yoga ‘Western-style picture’ watercolourist. He designed prints for Watanabe Shozaburo, the great <em>shin-hanga</em> publisher, from 1920, and after 1925 began publishing his works independently, exhibiting in Japan and internationally with considerable commercial success.

Indeed, as well as being an outstanding technician, Yoshida was an enterprising artist. He closely supervised every aspect of the production of his works, and travelled widely. This was partly to learn about the world, in North America (1899, 1903-1907, 1923), India (1930), Europe (1907, 1923), China and Korea (1936), and also as a war artist in China in 1938 and 1940. It was also to learn more about Western painting conventions, and to market his works.

One positive pictorial outcome of Yoshida's habits of plein-air (on the spot) drawing while travelling was the immediacy of his views. His view into the dark interior of the Ellora Caves near Hyderabad - which he saw on his visit to India - maintains an almost photographic aura of authenticity much enhanced by a rich brown-red tonality that coveys a sense of the relentless summer heat, even in the shade of the stone caves. The combination of convincing spatial depth and experience of place and atmosphere enhanced its values as a meisho-e ‘famous place picture’ travel souvenir.

Source: David Bell, 'A new vision: modern Japanese prints from the Heriot collection', <em>Tuhinga</em>, 31 (2020), forthcoming.

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art    May 2020