Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) is often regarded as the last ukiyo-e artist, working across the transition between the feudal Edo period (1603-1868) and the Westernization of Japan in the Meiji era (1868-1912). Not only was this a period of great political upheaval, it was also a time when artists sought ways to adapt traditional working practices to the opportunities and expectations of a new era.

Yoshitoshi is known as an artist of the macabre and bizarre, with his chimidoro-e (“blood-covered pictures”) and ghostly, grotesque imagery seemingly related to his documented history of mental health issues. However, this ghoulish reputation can obscure the important contributions he made to the development of new artistic genres and the sensitive, elegant turn that his supernatural imagery took toward the end of his life. Looking past lurid characterizations of the artist and his work, Kit Brooks, curator of Asian art at the Princeton University Art Museum, explores Yoshitoshi's career, examining what makes his art—and life—so haunting.

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