Fujio Yoshida
Encyclopedia
was a Japan
ese artists. She was the first female artist among the Yoshida family artists
.
She was the daughter of artist Kasaburo Yoshida and his wife Rui Yoshida
. She married artist Hiroshi Yoshida
. Trained from an early age in the Western-style, she went on to create both naturalistic and abstract watercolors, oils
, and woodblock prints. Her paintings of enlarged flower parts are sometimes, and perhaps incorrectly, associated with Georgia O’Keeffe’s work.
Her father and mother had a family of four girls, but to begin with no son was born to carry on Kasaburo’s work as a Western-style artist. As a result Kasaburo adopted his most talented student, Hiroshi Ueda. A few years later a son was born, but Hiroshi was so favored by his adoptive father that he retained his status as first son. After Kasaburo died, Hiroshi enrolled Fujio in some of the best Western-style studios in Tokyo
. As often happened in Japan, Hiroshi then in 1907 married Fujio.
Hiroshi and Fujio traveled together to the United States
in 1903-05. They held their first brother and sister exhibition in Providence, Rhode Island. Only 16 years old, Fujio was an instant American art-world phenomenon, admired for her beauty and exotic kimonos, but even more so for her graceful watercolor scenes of Japan. Shows in other East Coast cities followed. She sold almost as many pieces as Hiroshi on that trip and on subsequent trips in 1907 and 1923-25. Each trip included travel around the world on the way back to Tokyo. She then entered Bunten exhibitions and received honors. She exhibited with Taiheiyô-Gakai and helped establish Shuyôkai (Vermilion Leaf Society), the art society for women.
Fujio’s first-born child, a girl, died in 1911. Overcome with grief, Fujio stopped painting for almost 10 years. In 1911 her first son, Toshi Yoshida was born, but within a year he contracted polio and was partly paralyzed. A second son, Hodaka Yoshida, was born in 1926. Both sons became artists. After Hiroshi died in 1950, she lived first with Toshi’s family and then with Hodaka’s family. Influenced by Hodaka’s abstract art, she began in 1949 to create abstract flower paintings in oils, watercolors, and in 1953 in woodblock prints.
Fujio published her autobiography, Shuyô no ki (Vermilion Leaf Record), in 1978. In 1980 she held her first solo exhibition in Tokyo. She died peacefully in Hodaka’s home in 1987, just days short of her 100th birthday. A very important large and scholarly exhibit of her work was mounted by the Fuchu Art Museum near Tokyo in 2002, where her treatment of light was seen as clearly differentiating her work from her husband’s. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts featured her work in its 2002 exhibit and catalogue, “A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists.”
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese artists. She was the first female artist among the Yoshida family artists
Yoshida family artists
The Yoshida family of artists is an important line of Japanese artists that reaches unbroken from the early 19th century to the present.-Overview:...
.
She was the daughter of artist Kasaburo Yoshida and his wife Rui Yoshida
Rui Yoshida
Rui Yoshida was a daughter born to a family of Japanese artists five generations ago. Through those five generations, the Yoshida artists evolved from using a traditional Japanese style to producing modern Western-style art, and finally to post-modernism. Although not an artist herself, Rui was...
. She married artist Hiroshi Yoshida
Hiroshi Yoshida
was a 20th century Japanese painter and woodblock print maker. He is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the shin hanga style, and is noted especially for his excellent landscape prints...
. Trained from an early age in the Western-style, she went on to create both naturalistic and abstract watercolors, oils
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
, and woodblock prints. Her paintings of enlarged flower parts are sometimes, and perhaps incorrectly, associated with Georgia O’Keeffe’s work.
Her father and mother had a family of four girls, but to begin with no son was born to carry on Kasaburo’s work as a Western-style artist. As a result Kasaburo adopted his most talented student, Hiroshi Ueda. A few years later a son was born, but Hiroshi was so favored by his adoptive father that he retained his status as first son. After Kasaburo died, Hiroshi enrolled Fujio in some of the best Western-style studios in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. As often happened in Japan, Hiroshi then in 1907 married Fujio.
Hiroshi and Fujio traveled together to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1903-05. They held their first brother and sister exhibition in Providence, Rhode Island. Only 16 years old, Fujio was an instant American art-world phenomenon, admired for her beauty and exotic kimonos, but even more so for her graceful watercolor scenes of Japan. Shows in other East Coast cities followed. She sold almost as many pieces as Hiroshi on that trip and on subsequent trips in 1907 and 1923-25. Each trip included travel around the world on the way back to Tokyo. She then entered Bunten exhibitions and received honors. She exhibited with Taiheiyô-Gakai and helped establish Shuyôkai (Vermilion Leaf Society), the art society for women.
Fujio’s first-born child, a girl, died in 1911. Overcome with grief, Fujio stopped painting for almost 10 years. In 1911 her first son, Toshi Yoshida was born, but within a year he contracted polio and was partly paralyzed. A second son, Hodaka Yoshida, was born in 1926. Both sons became artists. After Hiroshi died in 1950, she lived first with Toshi’s family and then with Hodaka’s family. Influenced by Hodaka’s abstract art, she began in 1949 to create abstract flower paintings in oils, watercolors, and in 1953 in woodblock prints.
Fujio published her autobiography, Shuyô no ki (Vermilion Leaf Record), in 1978. In 1980 she held her first solo exhibition in Tokyo. She died peacefully in Hodaka’s home in 1987, just days short of her 100th birthday. A very important large and scholarly exhibit of her work was mounted by the Fuchu Art Museum near Tokyo in 2002, where her treatment of light was seen as clearly differentiating her work from her husband’s. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts featured her work in its 2002 exhibit and catalogue, “A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists.”
Sources
- Fujio Yoshida, Shuyô no ki, Taiyô Publishing Co., Tokyo, 1978
- Yoshida Fujio: A Painter of Radiance, Fuchu Art Museum, 2002
- Allen, et al., A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002.