Abstract

This abstract composition reflects Chizuko Yoshida's engagement with non-representational form through mokuhanga, a direction shaped by her studies under Fumio Kitaoka and her attendance at Onchi Kōshirō's seminars. The slug reference to 'saru' (monkey) suggests the print belongs to a zodiac-themed edition, in which animal symbolism is reduced to geometric or organic shape rather than depicted figuratively. Working in the [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) tradition, Yoshida carved and printed her own blocks, treating each color layer as an autonomous compositional element. Her abstract prints typically employ overlapping planes, varied surface textures derived from wood grain and tool marks, and restrained palettes of three to six colors registered with kentō marks. Layered [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations and embossed passages from [baren](/glossary/baren) pressure lend a tactile, hand-printed character that distinguishes such compositions from purely graphic abstraction. The work sits within her broader postwar practice, in which she connected international currents in abstract art with the technical vocabulary of Japanese woodblock printing she inherited through marriage into the Yoshida studio.