Yoshio Markino (1869-1956)

Yoshio Markino (1869-1956) was a Japanese artist and author who was fascinated by Western culture and set off from Yokohoma at the age of 22 for San Francisco, America where he enrolled for four years at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art. In 1897 he departed America for England and London where he settled. He published his watercolours of London and his thoughts on the city in 1907 in the critically acclaimed book The Colour of London. The success of this publication with his beautiful landscapes and artistic and cultural musings led to a follow up book in 1908 entitled The Colour of Paris.
The watercolour offered here is one of the original works from his time in Paris showing a view from Père Lachaise across the city to Sacre Coeur on the butte Montmatre capturing as Markino did so well the atmosphere of an early morning as the sun breaks the cloud. It is illustrated in Markino's book The Colour of Paris (1908) in chapter two, entitled 'Of Open Spaces' (A signed copy of the book is sold as part of this lot.).