Posted by John Fiorillo on October 03, 1998 at 13:40:25:
In Reply to: Toshio Yoshida posted by Marilyn on October 03, 1998 at 10:38:29:
: We have a small (9" x 12") print signed in pencil by toshio yoshida and dated 1926. (That would have made him 15 years old, right?) It's a Tiger's Head, facing left. Do you know anything about this print? Marilyn
Response from JF:
The Tiger’s Head of 1926 was Toshi Yoshida’s second print, the first being a study of two crabs printed in 1925, the first year that his father Hiroshi began his own studio (with his own engravers and printers, whom he supervised). As his father controlled the production of his own works, the young Toshi had before him an unusual opportunity to work in his family’s studio and witness the making of a print from start to finish. It must have been a wonderful educational experience at so early an age (Toshi was born in 1911). Hiroshi sometimes carved his own blocks, and so did Toshi, including his earliest prints and the Tiger’s Head. The theme of depicting animals was central to Toshi’s work through much of his career (though few works on this subject appeared between 1930-1971). In particular, he specialized in depicting animals from the African continent beginning in 1972.