The Abstract Worlds of Yoshida Hodaka and Chizuko –– Minneapolis Institute of Art
abstract image: layers of bright orange and bright red loops and curlicues over brown circles extending from the upper left across to the lower right of the painting; bright blue, orange, brown, red, and tan squares throughout; horizontal bright blue narrow rectangles almost dance across the image.
Yoshida Chizuko, Japanese, 1924–2017, Jazz, 1954. Woodblock print; ink and color on paper. Gift of the Clark Center for Japanese Art & Culture; formerly given to the Center by H. Ed Robison, in memory of his beloved wife Ulrike Pietzner Robison. 2013.29.539

The Abstract Worlds of Yoshida Hodaka and Chizuko

The Abstract Worlds of Yoshida Hodaka and Chizuko

September 20, 2025 - June 28, 2026
Galleries 251, 252, and 253
Free Exhibition

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.

Yoshida Chizuko, Japanese, 1924–2017, Jazz, 1954. Woodblock print; ink and color on paper. Gift of the Clark Center for Japanese Art & Culture; formerly given to the Center by H. Ed Robison, in memory of his beloved wife Ulrike Pietzner Robison. 2013.29.539