From Yoshida's later career (1935–1950), these prints show his technical mastery at full maturity. Later-decade prints slightly trail peak-period 1920s works at auction, but jizuri impressions of desirable subjects still command strong prices. Standard jizuri Japanese landscapes follow the dealer benchmark of approximately $2,149; Sacred Bridge, Nikko (1937) sold for $800 at Schmidt's Antiques for a pencil-signed example.
Spring at a Japanese spa — likely an onsen resort in the mountains or along a coastal hot-spring district — provides the setting for this 1940 print, in which Yoshida balances the human warmth of the bathing culture with the seasonal energy of spring foliage or blossoms nearby. The composition likely incorporates the steam of natural hot springs rising against a sky brightened by the pale greens and pinks of early spring growth, a contrast of elemental forces — earth's heat meeting the cool air — that gave Yoshida rich visual material. By 1940, wartime restrictions had increasingly confined his subjects to Japan itself, and the spa landscape offered a refuge of sensory pleasure and cultural continuity.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
A Spa in Spring was created by Hiroshi Yoshida (吉田博) in 1940.
A Spa in Spring uses Bokashi, Nishiki-e, and Moku-hanga, on color woodblock print.
A Spa in Spring was published by Yoshida Studio (1940).
A Spa in Spring depicts spring.
A Spa in Spring measures 40.5 × 26.8 cm (Oban format).
