Tsukioka Yoshitoshi.Japanese Ukiyo-e Printmaker(1839-1892)

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) was the most important Japanese woodcut artist of the Meiji period (1868-1912). He saw his work as the culmination of the Ukiyo-e tradition of the preceding Edo period, but he also developed new elements of western style and depicted contemporary events in a way that heralded the modern era. His use of daring design and expressive colour to turn the screw of violent and cruel situations made him the most vivid and shocking witness of Meiji Japan. Yet he could also conjure a refined poetry to give a new twist to traditional subjects.