Humphrey Booklet

Tsukioka

yoshitoshi

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (30 April 1839 – 9 June 1892) (Japanese: 月岡 芳年; also named Taiso Yoshitoshi 大蘇 芳年) was a Japanese artist.

He is widely recognized as the last great master of Ukiyo-e, a type of Japanese woodblock printing. He is additionally regarded as one of the form’s greatest innovators. His career spanned two eras – the last years of feudal Japan, and the first years of modern Japan following the Meiji Restoration. Like many Japanese, Yoshitoshi was interested in new things from the rest of the world, but over time he became increasingly concerned with the loss of many aspects of traditional Japanese culture, among them tradi-tional woodblock printing.

Table of ContentIntroduction page 3 Early Life and Artisitic Training page 4 Height of Career page 5 Work and Influence page 6 Reference and Links page 7

HEADERBirth name Taiso Yoshitoshi 大蘇 芳年Born 30 April 1839Died 9 June 1892Nationality JapaneseField Japanese artistWorks Great master of Ukiyo-e, a type of Japa-

nese woodblock printingInfluenced by Meiji RestorationInfluenced

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Yoshitoshi was born in the Shimbashi district of old Edo, in 1839. His father was a wealthy merchant who had bought his way into samurai status. At three years old, Yoshitoshi left home to live with his uncle, a pharmacist with no son, who was very fond of his nephew. At the age of five, he became interested in art and started to take lessons from his uncle. In 1850, when he was 11 years old, Yoshitoshi was apprenticed to Kuniyoshi, one of great masters of the Japanese woodblock print. Kuniyoshi gave his apprentice a new name (he was originally named Owariya Yonejiro). Although he was not seen as Kuniyoshi’s successor during his lifetime, he is now recognized as the most important pupil of Kuniyoshi.Tokaido Meisho no Uchi, “Maisaka”, early Yoshitoshi seascape design from a collaborative series (1863).

During his training, Yoshitoshi concentrated on refin-ing his draftsmanship skills and copying his mentor’s sketches. Kuniyoshi emphasized drawing from real life, which was unusual in Japanese training because the artist’s goal was to capture the subject matter rather than making a literal interpretation of it. Yo-shitoshi also learned the elements of western drawing techniques and perspective through studying Kuniyo-shi’s collection of foreign prints and engravings.

Yoshitoshi’s first print appeared in 1853, but nothing else appeared for many years, perhaps as a result of the illness of his master Kuniyoshi during his last years. Although his life was hard after Kuniyoshi’s death in 1861, he did manage to produce some work, 44 prints of his being known from 1862. In the next two years he had sixty-three of his designs, mostly kabuki prints, published. He also contributed designs to the 1863 Tokaido series by Utagawa School artists organized under the auspices of Kunisada.

By 1869, Yoshitoshi was regarded as one of the best woodblock artists in Japan. However, shortly thereafter, he ceased to receive commissions, perhaps because the public were tired of scenes of violence. By 1871, Yoshitoshi became severely depressed, and his personal life became one of great turmoil, which was to continue sporadically until his death.

He lived in appalling condi-tions with his devoted mistress, Okoto, who sold off her clothes and possessions to support him. At one point they were reduced to burning the floor-boards from the house for warmth. It is said that in 1872 he suffered a com-plete mental breakdown after being shocked by the lack of popularity of his recent designs.n the following year his fortunes turned, when his mood im-proved, and he started to pro-duce more prints. Prior to 1873, he had signed most of his prints as “Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi”. Howev-er, as a form of self-affirmation, he at this time changed his artist name to “Taiso” (meaning “great resurrection”). Newspapers sprung up in the moderniza-tion drive, and Yoshitoshi was recruited to produce “news nishikie”. These were wood-block prints designed as full-page illustrations to accompany articles, usually on lurid and sensationalized subjects such as “true crime” stories. Yoshitoshi’s financial condition was still pre-carious, however, and in 1876, his mistress Okoto, in a gesture of devotion, sold herself to a brothel to help him.

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Many of Yoshitoshi’s prints of the 1860s are depictions of graphic violence and death. These themes were partly inspired by the death of Yoshitoshi’s father in 1863 and by the lawlessness and violence of the Japan surround-ing him, which was simultaneously experiencing the breakdown of the feudal system imposed by the Tokugawa shogunate, as well as the impact of contact with Westerners. In late 1863, Yoshitoshi began making violent sketches, eventually incorporated into battle prints designed in a bloody and extravagant style. The public enjoyed these prints and Yoshitoshi began to move up in the ranks of ukiyo-e artists in Edo. With the country at war, Yoshitoshi’s images allowed those who were not directly involved in the fighting to experience it vicariously through his designs. The public was attracted to Yoshitoshi’s work not only for his superior composition and draftsmanship, but also his passion and intense involvement with his subject matter. Besides the demands of woodblock print publishers and consumers, Yoshitoshi was also trying to exorcise the demons of horror that he and his fellow countrymen were experiencing.

the 1867 series Azuma no nishiki ukiyo kôdan. In 1868, following the Battle of Ueno, Yoshitoshi made the series Kaidai hyaku sensô in which he portrays contemporary soldiers as historical figures in a semi-western style, using close-up and unusual angles, often shown in the heat of battle with desperate expres-sions.It is said that Yoshitoshi’s work of the “bloody” period has had an impact on writers such as Jun’ichirō Tanizaki (1886–1965) as well as artists including Tadanori Yokoo and

By 1869, Yoshitoshi was regarded as one of the best woodblock artists in Japan. However, shortly thereafter, he ceased to receive com-missions, perhaps because the public were tired of scenes of violence. By 1871, Yoshitoshi became severely depressed, and his personal life became one of great turmoil, which was to con-tinue sporadically until his death. He lived in appalling conditions with his devoted mistress, Okoto, who sold off her clothes and possessions to support him. At one point they were reduced to burn-ing the floor-boards from the house for warmth. It is said that in 1872 he suffered a complete mental break-down after being shocked by the lack of popularity of his recent designs. In the follow-ing year his fortunes turned, when his mood improved, and he started to produce more prints. Prior to 1873, he had signed most of his prints as “Ikkaisai Yoshi-toshi”. However, as a form of self-affirmation, he at this time changed his artist name to “Taiso” (meaning “great resurrection”). Newspapers

With the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, in which the old feudal or-der made one last attempt to stop the new Japan, newspaper cir-culation soared, and woodblock artists were in demand, with Yoshitoshi earning much atten-tion. In late 1877, he took up with a new mistress, the geisha Oraku; like Okoto, she sold her clothes and possessions to support him, and when they separated after a year, she too hired herself out to a brothel. Yoshitoshi’s works gave him more public recognition, and the money was a help, but it was not until 1882 that he was secure.The Lonely House on Adachi Moor (1885)

A series of bijin-ga designed in 1878 entitled Bita shichi yosei caused political trouble for Yo-shitoshi because it depicted seven female attendants to the Impe-rial court and identified them by name, it may be that the Empress Meiji herself was displeased with this fact and with the style of her portrait in the series.

In 1880, he met another woman, a former geisha with two chil-dren, Sakamaki Taiko. They were married in 1884, and while he continued to philander, her gentle and patient temperament seems 6

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