Chizuko Yoshida (1924-2017), Rainbow, Butterfly (Niji cho), photo-relief etching and woodblock print, self-carved and self-printed; titled, numbered, signed and dated in pencil on the bottom margin Niji cho, 10/100, Chizuko Yoshida, 1981, 29 3/8 x 25 in. (74.6 x 63.5 cm)

New Prints: Chizuko and Hodaka Yoshida
145 West 58th St, Ste 6D, NYC

Following up on the recent success of the two major retrospective exhibitions in 2025 devoted to the work of the pioneering artist Yoshida Chizuko (1924-2017) at the Mitaka City Gallery of Art and at the Portland Museum of Art; Scholten Japanese Art is pleased to continue their collaboration with the Yoshida family and present a fresh group of works by both Chizuko and her likewise talented husband, Yoshida Hodaka (1926-1995).

The pair met either in 1949 or 1950 (sources vary) during a period that both artists were focusing on abstract painting, and shortly thereafter began to show their work in joint exhibitions at Tokyo’s Maruzen Gallery. As Hodaka was a member of a family of well-established printmakers it is not surprising that he and Chizuko were interested in the recent developments of the sosaku-hanga (creative print) movement which emphasized the artist as the sole creator, thereby self-carving and self-printing their work. Chizuko and Hodaka married in 1953; a year that marked a notable burst in creativity emanating from the entire Yoshida family, all of whom began to explore self-carving and self-printing woodblock prints, initially producing primarily abstract compositions.

In the early 1970s, Hodaka, who was also well-known as a photographer, began to adapt his photographs for prints, combining photo etching with color woodblock printing; a technique which Chizuko subsequently utilized to a very different effect in her compositions featuring repetitive abstractions of natural subjects such as masses of flowers and butterflies.

To learn more and view these new, exceptional prints, click here.