Ohara Koson

Shoson, Hoson, 1877-1945

Kingfisher on a Snowy Stump

signed Shoson with artist's seal Shoson, published by Watanabe Shozaburo, ca. 1935

shikishiban 11 1/2 by 10 in., 29.1 by 25.4 cm

Ohara Koson was one of the most important and prolific kacho-ga (bird and flower) woodblock prints artists of the early 20th century shin-hanga (new print) movement. He began publishing prints with Watanabe Shozaburo after the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, around 1926. Before the earthquake, Koson published kacho-ga with Kokkeido (Akiyama Buemon) in Nihonbashi; Daikokuya (Matsuki Heikichi) in Ryogokubashi; and Nishinomiya Yosaku; always using the go (artist's name) Koson. When he began publishing with Watanabe Shozaburo, he adopted the go, Shoson. His prints are generally not dated, and frequently without publisher seals.

References:
Amy Reigle Newland; Jan Perree; and Robert Schap, Crows, Cranes & Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson, 1877-1945, 2001, p. 157, cat. no. 163; index p. 198, no. S15.2
Harvard Art Museum, object no. 1939.25

(inv. no. C-4024)

price: $1,800 (reserved)