If you love Asian art, something with vibrant color and incredible detailing, then you would quickly fall in love with the woodblock prints of Yoshiiku.  While we saw a number of incredibly talented artists come out of Japan and China, it seems as if the 19^th century produced some of the most skilled, Yoshiiku included.  Studying under Kuniyoshi, this particular artist was one of the prolific pupils, along with Yoshitoshi, Yoshitora, Yoshifuji, Yoshikazu, and of course, Yoshiiku. 

As you probably noticed, all of these students have the prefix “Yoshi”, which is actually similar to a title for students that studied in Kuniyoshi’s art school.  While all of these artists did quite well, there was no doubt that Yoshiiku had surpassed the others.  In fact, Yoshiiku had refined his skill so much that he quickly became the most well known artists of this time. 

Sadly, Yoshitoshi passed away in 1861.  At that time, Yoshiiku was the one student that carried on tradition of making beautiful woodblock prints of actor and warriors.  In fact, of all the students who had studies in this school, Yoshiiku created designs closest to that of his deceased master.  For instance, you would find woodblock prints with magnificent color and astounding design elements.  Because of his unrivaled skill and devotion to the art form, Yoshiiku would go on to create the most gorgeous woodcut portraits of the late master, Kuniyoshi. 

These portraits were published in 1867, called the “Taiheiki Eiyuden”.  In all, there were 50 small size woodcuts, each of an infamous warrior.  In addition, Yoshiiku created the Chronicles of the Taiheiki, which was a violent time during the 14^th century, a time when Japan was at unrest.  Then by the mid-19^th century, Yoshiiku branched out, actually designing his own set of woodcuts.  These were entitled, Heroes of he Taiheiki, which were simply stunning. 

Keep in mind that Kuniyoshi taught his students specifically about warrior prints that focused on the 1850s and 1860s.  Again, a number of small wars erupted in Japan during this period, which was the final defeat of the Shogun, along with the monarchy restoration.  To capture this moment in time, many of the students to include Yoshiiku created colorful and detailed woodblock prints of Japanese warriors.