On view: September 10 through October 31, 2026
Location: Ronin Gallery, 32 W. 40th Street, New York, NY 10018
Gallery hours: Mon. – Fri. 11am – 6pm
Opening Reception: Thursday, Sept. 10, 5pm - 7pm
Hiroshige.Carp. c. 1840. Woodblock print
(New York, NY) — Ronin Gallery is pleased to present Feather, Fin and Fur, an exhibition tracing the animal kingdom through more than four centuries of Japanese woodblock printmaking. On view from September 10 through October 31, 2026, the exhibition moves from intimate ukiyo-e studies of birds, flowers, and fish to the expressive animals of Shin Hanga, Sosaku Hanga, and contemporary woodblock printmaking. Works by Koryusai, Utamaro, Hokusai, Hiroshige, Koson (Shoson), Goyo Hashiguchi, Koshiro Onchi, Kiyoshi Saito, Tomoo Inagaki, and Daniel Kelly reveal the remarkable range of natural subjects within the Japanese print tradition. The exhibition begins with kacho-e, literally "pictures of flowers and birds," a subject with deep roots in East Asian art and a particularly rich history within Japanese painting, poetry, and printmaking. In the hands of ukiyo-e artists, closely observed plants and birds became vehicles for seasonal association, poetic exchange, and technical display. Feather, Fin and Fur takes this tradition as its point of departure while expanding beyond it to include fish, cats, rabbits, and other creatures represented with tenderness, wit, drama, and abstraction.
Utamaro.Grosbeak and Woodpecker. c.1790. Woodblock print.
Among the early highlights are two designs from Utamaro's Myriad Birds: A Kyoka Competition (c. 1790), an inventive marriage of bird imagery and playful verse. Koryusai's Pheasants Under a Branch of Peach Blossoms (1765) and Masayoshi’s Two Gray Starlings (1790) further demonstrate how 18th century artists brought extraordinary sensitivity to the natural world. Hiroshige forms the exhibition's visual and historical core. A group of seven vertical bird-and-flower prints - including Rooster, Umbrella and Morning Glories, Peacock and Peonies, and Shrike and Chrysanthemums - shows his command of compressed space, seasonal atmosphere, and graceful asymmetry. Nearby, six works from his Grand Series of Fish (Uozukushi) pair marine life with kyoka poetry. Printed during the 1830s and early 1840s, these still-life-like compositions transform fish and shellfish into lyrical studies of form and texture, often heightened with mica.
Shoson. Two Rabbits and Full Moon. c.1930. Woodblock print.
The early 20th century brought a renewed naturalism to the genre. Koson, who also worked under the name Shoson and Hoson, distilled birds and animals into atmospheric encounters: sparrows gather above snow-covered plum, a crow calls from a winter branch, and two rabbits pause beneath a full moon. Goyo Hashiguchi's Ducks (1920) and Rakusan's expansive Beach at Low Tide and Long-billed Ringed Plovers (1930) further demonstrate the visual richness of Shin Hanga. Modern and contemporary artists push these subjects into new formal and emotional territory. Koshiro Onchi reduces Fish (1935) to a poised arrangement of color and geometry. Kiyoshi Saito's Mother Love (1964) finds tenderness in the meeting of a mother cat and her kitten, while Tomoo Inagaki's Audience of Cats (c. 1965) turns a crowd of felines into a rhythmic field of pattern and personality. In Daniel Kelly's Pillow Talk (2011), a koi emerges as a monumental contemporary presence.
Across the exhibition, technique deepens meaning. Blind embossing gives volume to feathers and fur; mica and metallic pigments catch changing light; layered color and visible woodgrain evoke weather, water, and atmosphere. These effects reward close looking and remind us that the animal subject has always been inseparable from the woodblock medium's physical intelligence. Feather, Fin and Fur offers a wide-ranging view of how Japanese artists have observed, imagined, and reimagined the creatures around them. Spanning ukiyo-e, Shin Hanga, Sosaku Hanga, and contemporary woodblock printmaking, the exhibition celebrates an artistic tradition that remains as immediate and compelling today as it was in the Edo period.
About Ronin Gallery
Ronin Gallery is one of the world’s leading dealers in Japanese woodblock prints and home to one of the largest collections of 17th-21st century Japanese prints in the United States. Founded in 1975 in the Explorers Club Mansion of New York City, the gallery is now located in the taproom of the historic Engineer’s Club at Bryant Park Place. For more information about the gallery and to access the gallery’s online exhibits, visit:
https://www.roningallery.com.