Artist: Hiroshi Yoshida
Medium: Original Japanese Woodblock Print
Series Title: Japan
Edition: First
Date: 1928
Publisher: The Artist - Privately Published
Reference No.: Abe #104
Size: 25 × 37 " (Full Margins)
Condition: Very fine, with superb colors
Notes:
Signed and titled in pencil, with the artist's brush signature and red chop. Jizuri seal in the upper left margin.
"Rapids" (Keiryu) is a monumental 1928 color woodblock print by Hiroshi Yoshida, a master of the 20th-century Shin-hanga ("new prints") movement. Original 1928 lifetime editions are exceptionally rare, with a historical museum record indicating an initial run limited to only 30-50 completed impressions. At the incredible scale of a quadruple ōban size print, it was an unprecedented achievement for the artist. Yoshida purchased a huge mountain cherry tree to be able to produce this and several other oversized prints. "Rapids" is the second-largest print he ever produced, surpassed only by, "Sea of Clouds".
Widely reported to be Yoshida's personal favorite design, it is celebrated for its dynamic portrayal of rushing water along the upper reaches of Japan's Tone River. Replicating the crystalline transparency and raw kinetic energy of a fast-moving stream required 8 separate woodblocks and 33 manual color impressions. Uncharacteristically for the shin-hanga collaborative system, Yoshida stepped in to personally carve the mainstream block using a V-shaped gouge and a round chisel. The secondary large wave lines were carved by Maeda Yujiro.