(1833 - 1904)
SHOOTING BIRDS AT REST, 1875
Colour woodblock print, published for the newspaper Tokyo nichinichi shinbun. This print was published in 1875. Signed Ikkeisai Yoshiiku, red seal Yoshiiku
Fine impression and colour, sheet restored on the left side and with some foxing. Vertical ôban, 360 x 234 mm.
The print tells of a grotesque sexual story, See an excellent translation here.
Son of the owner of a tea-house, Yoshiiku was a pupil of Kuniyoshi along with Yoshitoshi, six years his junior. It is said that the elder Yoshiiku bullied Yoshitoshi and that the two printmakers shared a life-long rivalry. Despite this the two artists collaborated together to draw a few series of prints. From 1874 to 1875 Yoshiiku produced drawings for prints published by the newspaper Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun (Tokyo Daily News), and then co-founded the Tokyo E-iri Shinbun (Tokyo Illustrated News).
