Hiroshi Yoshida (Japanese, 1876-1950). Japanese shin-hang woodblock print titled "Chikugo River" depicting a quiet night scenery of a riverside town in Japan, 1927. Jizuri seal along the left margin. Pencil signed along the lower right; ink titled along the left margin; seal marked along the lower right in plate; 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: 10 1/2 in x width: 16 in. No visible tears, losses, or restoration under UV light. Along the right margin, there is light wear as shown in the listing image; however, it is original to the artistic practice. The sheet is toned and has no foxing or soiling. The color is bold and bright. Along the verso, the paper is toned has scattered spots that are fluorescent under UV light; however, they do not appear to be foxing. To the lower right margin of the verso, there are two minute black dots.