<b>MORNING IN DARJEELING</b> / Hiroshi Yoshida1931<B>SOLD</B></em>
ARTIST: Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950)
TITLE: Morning in Darjeeling
DATE: 1931
MEDIUM: Woodblock print
DIMENSIONS: 6 ¼ x 9 5/8 inches
CONDITION: Excellent, no condition problems to note
LITERATURE: Ogura, Yoshida Hiroshi Zenhangashu (The Complete Woodblock Prints of Hiroshi Yoshida), Abe Shuppan, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 166
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SOLD
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Details
The Himalayan Mountain range is set sprawling across the composition. Yoshida utilizes the tonalities of blue to capture the various degrees of light, distance, and atmospheric conditions. Darjeeling sits atop a high ridge, dwarfed to its north by the jagged summit of Mt. Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest peak with an elevation of 28,169 ft.
Though this composition is executed in a smaller format, as many designs made in the 1920s and early 1930s featuring foreign locals, the success of the design lies in both Yoshida’s skill as a draftsman as well as the stunning execution of the work’s printing.
Connoisseur's Note
There is a robust and growing interest in Yoshida’s designs of the Indian subcontinent. Many of these designs were not produced in the same large-scale production as the artist’s Japanese scene. Further still. due to the print’s smaller scale, the artist did not execute as many impressions of this design as he produced his standard oban-sized prints. Consequently, this design is among the artist’s most scarce works and one of the most sought-after designs from this series.
This impression is an excellent example of the design. Exhibiting fresh, untouched colors, the print looks like it could have been created today. This print features Yoshida’s “jizuri seal,” as well as a brush and pencil signature, indicating it was produced under his strict supervision.
