Ladyslipper Orchids

Fujio Yoshida

A striking, intimate floral image from the second wave of Fujio Yoshida’s career in color woodcut. Having been trained in the art of block printing as a child, global political turmoil, gender discrimination, and a resistance to Western art styles in pre-war Japan convened to limit Fujio’s early woodcut output. It wasn’t until the early 1950s that she fully immersed herself in the medium, now inspired by post-war Abstract Expressionism.

“Ladyslipper Orchids,” with its curving forms and cool palette, is deceptively sensual for the seemingly innocuous floral subject, giving insight into the creative mind of a relatively quiet artist whose early works were based on classical themes: landscapes, village scenes, and decorative prints.

The importance of Fujio Yoshida’s work in printmaking cannot be overestimated. She was the first female member of the renowned Yoshida family - and one of the first Japanese women - to professionally train in color woodcut as well as in Western art theory. Additionally, she was among the very first Japanese women to exhibit in Japan and abroad, establishing herself as an internationally recognized artist by the age of sixteen. Her pursuit of new styles over eight decades of global change makes her work a unique timeline of evolution for modern art.