The Abstract Worlds of Yoshida Hodaka and Chizuko

Yoshida Hodaka (1926–1995) was born into a family of artists. He was the second son of Yoshida Hiroshi (1876–1950), a leading Western-style artist in Japan during the early 20th century. 

Hodaka leaned toward abstraction and began exploring that path after his father’s death in 1950. In 1953, Hodaka married Chizuko (1924–2017), a trained painter. 

In addition to oil painting, both Hodaka and Chizuko worked in the woodblock print medium. In 1992, Hodaka created a set of six extraordinarily large prints that depict walls with great attention to structural features and surface details. 

This exhibition showcases the entire wall set together for the first time, along with Chizuko’s abstract works and playful groups of butterflies.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website