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.
The azalea — a flowering shrub that explodes into vivid pinks and reds each spring across Japanese gardens — is the protagonist of this 1935 print, which frames a garden landscape in the height of late-spring bloom. Yoshida brought the same analytical attention to floral subjects that he applied to mountain peaks, studying the massed color of azalea blossoms and the architecture of their cultivation in formal Japanese gardens. The composition may depict one of the famous azalea gardens around Tokyo — perhaps Nezu Shrine's azalea hill — where thousands of plants are terraced in seasonal spectacle. His oil-painter's eye for color relationships gives the floral masses a luminosity unusual in the woodblock medium.
$1,245
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Azalea Garden was created by Hiroshi Yoshida (吉田博) in 1935.
Azalea Garden uses Bokashi, Nishiki-e, and Moku-hanga, on color woodblock print.
Azalea Garden was published by Yoshida Studio (1935).
Azalea Garden depicts birds & flowers and gardens.
Azalea Garden measures 27 × 40.2 cm (Oban format).
