Hashiguchi Goyo

Trained at a young age as a painter by his father, Hashiguchi (1880-1921), did not work as an printmaker until well into his adult life. He left his hometown of Kagoshima to study Western painting at the Tokyo Institute of Fine Arts, graduating in 1905. From then on, he called himself Goyo, but worked more as a scholar and critic than an artist. At the age of 35, he created his first print which clearly showed his skill as a printmaker. Unfortunately, he was of frail health, and only created 14 prints during his lifetime, dying at the age of just forty-one. His prints are among the most beautiful, rare, and sought-after of modern Japanese shin hangaprints, integrating Western elements into traditional Japanese woodblock prints.