Deer in Kasuga (Dai-Oban Format)

Catalog ID: C1907

Artist: Hiroshi Yoshida
Medium: Original Japanese Woodblock Print
Series Title: Japan
Edition: First
Date: 1928
Publisher: The Artist - Privately Published
Reference No.: Abe #107
Size: 21 x 16 -3/4 " (Dai-Oban Format)
Condition: Very fine

Notes:

Signed and titled in pencil, with the artist's brush signature and red chop. Jizuri seal in the left margin. Yoshida utilized a specialized karazuri (embossing) technique to add a rich, tactile texture to the double-ōban sized color woodblock print.

This composition captures the sacred, friendly deer grazing peacefully among the iconic stone lanterns near the historic Kasuga Shrine in Nara, Japan. The artist loved this location so much that a decade later, in 1938, he produced another highly regarded sister print titled, "Way to the Kasuga Shrine". Original impressions of "Deer in Kasuga" are preserved in major institutions worldwide, including the Toledo Museum of Fine Art.