Hanga
Before a Mirror by Hiroshi Yoshida — Japanese Woodblock print, 1927

Before a Mirror

by Hiroshi Yoshida

Shin-hanga
FiguresBijin-gaInteriors
Date:
1927
Medium:
Woodblock print
Format:
Oban
Publisher:
Yoshida Studio

Description

A woman seated before a mirror — an intimate boudoir scene that places Yoshida in conversation with the bijin-ga (beauty picture) tradition of earlier Japanese printmaking. The 1927 date places it within his most prolific period, and the domestic interior subject contrasts tellingly with his dominant landscape mode. Yoshida's Western academic training gave him a precise grasp of figure drawing and interior light, deployed here to bring quiet intimacy to a scene that Utamaro and Harunobu had made iconic in earlier centuries.

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Soshu (Suzhou) by Hiroshi Yoshida

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Kanchenjunga by Hiroshi Yoshida

Kanchenjunga

1931

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More Figures Prints

Shamyris, Shôwa period, dated 1965? by Hideo Hagiwara

Shamyris, Shôwa period, dated 1965?

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Celebrating the Good Harvest: Felicitations for a Thousand Ages (Nôhônen, Chiyo no kotobuki) by Kawanabe Kyosai

Celebrating the Good Harvest: Felicitations for a Thousand Ages (Nôhônen, Chiyo no kotobuki)

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Midas, Shôwa period, dated 1965? by Hideo Hagiwara

Midas, Shôwa period, dated 1965?

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Gundari Myôô, Shôwa period, dated 1962 by Kihei Sasajima

Gundari Myôô, Shôwa period, dated 1962

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Featured in Collections

Curated cross-cuts that include this print.

Shin-Hanga: Japan's Twentieth-Century Print RevivalBijin-ga: Japanese Beauty PrintsHiroshi Yoshida's International Travel Prints

Frequently Asked Questions

Before a Mirror was created by Hiroshi Yoshida (吉田博) in 1927.

Before a Mirror was published by Yoshida Studio (1927).

Before a Mirror depicts figures, bijin-ga, and interiors.