Yoshijiro Urushibara (1888-1953)

Wood block printmaker born in Shiba, Tokyo, Japan. Two of his three elder brothers Eijiro and Sanjiro were also artists in the same discipline. Following an apprenticeship with a woodblock company in Japan, Urushibara travelled to England in 1910 with other Japanese woodcut artists to demonstrate their skills and techniques in the Anglo-Japanese Exhibition held in London that year. Following this exhibition, he stayed in London and was employed by the British Museum in the production and restoration of prints and the mounting of scrolls. He subsequently worked as a printmaker in England and France, sometimes in collaboration with Frank Brangwyn reproducing many of his designs. His subject matter included scenes of Venice, Menton, and flower prints either as conservative arrangements or against black backgrounds sometimes with butterflies.  A woodcut by Urushibara after Brangwyn entitled 'The Beguinage, Bruges' is illustrated i