Tsubakurodake Morning depicts a sunrise over this peak in the Northern Japanese Alps, capturing the first light striking the alpine ridgeline. Studio editions from the family workshop range from $300-$900, and jizuri self-printed impressions trade for $600-$1,500. Mountain dawn subjects by the Yoshida family are particularly treasured, as the delicate morning color gradations demonstrate the extraordinary tonal range achievable in the woodblock medium.
Tsubakurodake — Morning depicts the dawn light on one of the peaks of the Northern Alps in Nagano Prefecture, the mountain whose name means "Swallow Peak" catching the first light of day in a composition of alpine grandeur. The Northern Alps were among Yoshida's most sustained landscape subjects, the high-mountain terrain offering the kind of elemental natural drama — bare rock, snow, cloud, and the particular quality of high-altitude light — that his printmaking technique could render with exceptional beauty. The morning hour gave the mountain a quality of pristine freshness, the world renewed at daybreak.
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Tsubakurodake - Morning was created by Toshi Yoshida (吉田遠志).
Tsubakurodake - Morning uses Nishiki-e, Moku-hanga, and Kento, on woodblock print.
Tsubakurodake - Morning was published by Yoshida Studio.
Tsubakurodake - Morning depicts landscapes and mountains.
