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Scholten Japanese Art

ASIA WEEK NEW YORK 2024

COLLECTING THE MASTER: The Binnie Collection of Hiroshi Yoshida Paintings

March 14 – 22, 2024
Asia Week Hours: Mar 14-22, 11am-5pm (otherwise by appointment)

We are pleased to present our latest exhibit, COLLECTING THE MASTER: The Binnie Collection of Hiroshi Yoshida Paintings, assembled by the prominent contemporary woodblock printmaker, Paul Binnie for this 15th year of Asia Week New York.

Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) was a Japanese artist, painter and printmaker, widely known throughout the world for his woodblock printed work. Part of the shin- hanga (lit. ‘new print) movement of the first half of the twentieth century, Yoshida’s prints were produced in the same way as earlier ukiyo-e (lit. ‘pictures of the floating world’); woodblocks would be carved by a specialist artisan following the design of an artist, and then printed in colors by a specialist printer, all under the direction of a publisher, who then undertook to sell the finished product. However, in Yoshida’s case, he eventually employed the carvers and printers directly, acting as his own publisher and even occasionally carving and printing himself.

Aside from this well-known print career, Yoshida had a very active life as a painter and exhibited in a range of Japanese government-sponsored exhibitions, private art society group shows, and commercial galleries. He also exhibited widely embarking on trips to the United States and Europe in his early twenties. Along with friend and fellow-painter, Nakagawa Hachiro (1877-1922), they arranged several exhibitions, primarily of their watercolors, at museums and galleries in the Midwest and New England to great acclaim. Yoshida would continue to make several trips to capture the natural landscapes throughout the United States and Europe.

A natural leader and innovator, Yoshida was arguably one of the most influential artists in his time and among later generations as well, as evidenced by this collection. The Scottish artist and printmaker Paul Binnie (b. 1967) began to build a collection of Yoshida woodblock prints and original paintings and drawings around 1989, when he purchased his first landscape print by the earlier master.  In addition to the scrolls and fan paintings which feature subjects and motifs seen in Yoshida’s printed works, such as boats on the Inland Sea, and views of Mount Fuji, The Binnie Collection of Hiroshi Yoshida Paintings offers two drawings, four watercolors and eight oil paintings, including the original canvases for three of Yoshida’s woodblock prints, Breithorn, Ghats at Benares and New York.

To learn more, click here.

To view the online exhibition: click here.

 

NEW INVENTORY

Innovative Printmaking by Hodaka Yoshida

We are pleased to announce the gallery recently received from the Yoshida Family Collection several works by Hodaka Yoshida (1926-1995) which are available now on our website!

Hodaka was the second son in the Yoshida family of artists. Originally guided on a path to become a scientist by his father, Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950), he took a leave of absence from his studies during WWII, and in early 1945 he began to teach himself to paint with oils late at night in his parent’s attic, experimenting with abstract compositions. In the early 1950s he began exploring woodblock printmaking, carving and printing the blocks himself in alignment with the creative print movement (sosaku hanga) which was finding new energy in the post-war period.

Hodaka would continue to experiment with different artistic and printing techniques throughout his life, later utilizing photographs from his extensive travels, and incorporating them into his printed works.

To learn more and view these works, click here.

 

ONLINE EXHIBITION

Paul Binnie: 30 Prints for 30 Years of Printmaking

To celebrate the release of new prints by Paul Binnie, as well as his highly prolific and accomplished career, we have assembled this very special online exhibition celebrating his 30th year as a printmaker.

This online show not only features the recent print releases of Bubble Era of 1990 and Tears (red-bronze variant), but also some of the artist’s most rare and sought-after designs, including such rarities as his 1994 Nocturne and the 2005 Butterfly Bow, both of which have long proven (nearly) impossible to acquire by his most ardent collectors.

To view these works and others in the exhibition, click here.

 

NEW PRINTS RELEASED

Paul Binnie

We are pleased to announce the release of an exciting new print set by Paul Binnie, The Moon Moth Suite, comprising of a set of three woodblock printed illustrations, Moon Moth Mask, Scarlet Sabre Bills, and Sea Dragon Mask. The designs are featured in a 2023 re-release of the 1961 science fiction book, The Moon Moth, by Jack Vance (1916-2013).

Binnie was commissioned by the publisher Cordes Press in the United Kingdom to provide the prints for a new edition of the famous and influential novella. The Cordes edition features three black and white illustrations which are based on Binnie’s keyblock prints of the designs, and there is also a (sold-out) luxury edition limited to only fourteen copies of the book with hand-printed color woodblock prints. Inspired by this unique project, Binnie used the same blocks to produce this small edition limited to thirty impressions of the suite of three full-color prints utilizing slightly variant color schemes embellished with the addition of mica, embossing, gold metallic printing, and extra bokashi shadings.

To learn more about this exciting new release, click here.

 

IN THE GALLERY

KAZUMA/KOIZUMI: Chasing Modernity

This Fall, Scholten Japanese Art presents KAZUMA/KOIZUMI: Chasing Modernity, which juxtaposes the work of two modern printmakers, Oda Kazuma (1881-1956), and Kishio Koizumi (1893-1945), both prominent members of the sosaku hanga (creative print) movement who shared an interest in depicting daily life in views of modern Japan, particularly the restoration and transformation of Tokyo following the 1923 earthquake. Although both embraced the ‘artist as creator’ ethos associated with sosaku hanga, they utilized varying techniques; Oda Kazuma was the leading color lithographer in Japan who also produced self-carved as well professionally published woodblock prints; while Kishio Koizumi was a dedicated woodblock carver and printer.

The exhibition is displayed in two parts:

Part One: Oda Kazuma features various landscape and figural works produced using different techniques including lithographs, as well as self-carved and professionally published woodblock prints.
The full index can be viewed here.

Part Two: Kishio Koizumi features a complete set of the artist’s monumental series, One Hundred Pictures of Great Tokyo in the Showa Era (Showa dai Tokyo hyakuzue), produced between 1928 and 1940.
The full set can be viewed here and individual works from the set here.

 

MORE ONLINE EXHIBITIONS

Meiji Period (1868-1912)

An online presentation of Meiji Period (1868-1912) woodblock prints in celebration of the Japanese Art Society of America’s 50th anniversary exhibition, Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan, opening on October 3, 2023 at the Asia Society here in New York.

Our selection includes works by Kiyochika, Yoshitoshi, Ginko, Kunichika, Chikanobu, and Shuntei, among others, and concludes with a group of fifteen prints from the collaborative series promoting modern goods, Collections of Famous Products, The Pride of Tokyo, featuring complex mitate (parodies) enriched by layered meanings and cultural references which are revealed by unlocking the rebuses (picture puzzles) and wordplay.

View the exhibition here.
View the exhibition index here.

Backstage Pass: KABUKI (Part One and Two)

Featuring a selection of shin hanga prints and related ephemera, this online exhibit offers viewers both a front row seat to the drama…as well as a peek behind the curtain.

View Part One of the exhibition here.
View Part Two of the exhibition here.