Portrait of Taiso Yoshitoshi

From the Minneapolis Institute of Art record

This portrait shows the artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839–1892) who lived during a time of drastic and disruptive social change in Japan and is considered the last major ukiyo-e artist. Born into a merchant family he initially designed beautiful women and actors in the Utagawa school style he was trained in but then shifted towards realism. In 1858, he became an independent artist and focused on historical subjects. He gained a reputation as a war artist through his depictions of violence. This memorial portrait of Yoshitoshi was created around the time of his death by Kanaki Toshikage, one of Yoshitoshi's first pupils. Next to the portrait is the death poem which was supposedly composed by Yoshitoshi himself: Holding the night at bay / having outshone all the rest / is the summer moon. Asia