Joichi Hoshi ‘One Tree’ Woodblock c1974 Japan

Joichi Hoshi was a Japanese printmaker best known for his depictions of trees in centered compositions. The trees are often shown leafless with monochromatic backgrounds, sometimes incorporating gold or silver leaf into the layers of the intricate woodblock process. Born in 1913 in Niigata, Japan, Hoshi began his artistic career after working as an elementary school teacher in Taiwan for several years. He later became a mimeograph printer and started creating his own prints. The artist graduated from the Musashino University of Fine Arts in 1956. Before focusing on his recurring motif of trees in the 1970s, Hoshi depicted galaxies and constellations. He died on June 17, 1979 in Tokyo, Japan. Today, Hoshi’s works are held in the collections of the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Cincinnati Art Museum, among others.