Yoshitoshi Mori

Japanese; born 1898 in Tokyo, died 1992 in Tokyo

Yoshitoshi Mori was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1898. For much of his early career, he studied textile arts

at the Katabawa Painting School, and eventually befriended Serizawa Keisuke and Yanagi Soetsu, who

introduced him to stencil-dying techniques. These techniques would have a large and direct influence

on Mori’s work. In the 1950’s, after working for several decades, Mori began to experiment with

printmaking, in both the sosaku hanga and kappazuri styles. Many of these prints depicted simple

tones and scenes of daily life. Throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s, Mori would exhibit numerous

international shows, and be recognized with an Honorary Doctorate from The University of Maryland

in 1984, and was honored in 1991 by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for his contributions to

Japanese art. Yoshitoshi Mori died in 1992, immediately following an exhibition at Wako Gallery in

Tokyo.