Grapes and Apples (Budo to ringo)
Budo to ringo
Budo to ringo
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.
In this 1940 still life — a departure from Yoshida's characteristic landscapes — clusters of grapes and a grouping of apples share the frame in a composition that draws directly from the Western still-life tradition he absorbed during his oil-painting years. Yoshida was among the very few [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) artists to attempt the domestic still life with fruit, a genre with no precedent in classical Japanese printmaking but a rich tradition in European painting. The tactile quality of grape skins and apple flesh — their surfaces gathering and reflecting light differently — presented a technical challenge that his jizuri printing process, with its multiple passes of subtly modulated pigment, was well equipped to address. The work is an unusual and revealing excursion into Western genre territory.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Grapes and Apples (Budo to ringo) (Budo to ringo) was created by Hiroshi Yoshida (吉田博) in 1940.
Grapes and Apples (Budo to ringo) uses Bokashi, Nishiki-e, and Moku-hanga, on color woodblock print.
Grapes and Apples (Budo to ringo) was published by Yoshida Studio (1940).
Grapes and Apples (Budo to ringo) depicts still life and food & drink.
Grapes and Apples (Budo to ringo) measures 39.1 × 27 cm (Oban format).
