Koson (1877 - 1945 )

Koson Ohara (aka Shoson or Hoson) was a master of early 20th century kacho-e (bird-and-flower pictures).With meticulous detail, soft color, and a palpable reverence for flora and fauna, Koson carried the genre into the modern era. Koson was born in Kanazawa with the given name Matao Ohara. He began his artistic career studying painting under the Shijo-style master Kason. Around the turn of the century, Koson became a teacher at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, where he met Ernest Fenollosa, an American collector, scholar and admirer of Japanese art and culture. Around 1905, Koson Ohara started to produce Japanese woodblock prints. Fenollosa, the curator of Japanese Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and an adviser to the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, persuaded Koson to export his bird prints to American art collectors.

Between 1900 and 1912, Koson Ohara worked with a number of different publishers and designed a few Russo-Japanese War prints, as well as genre landscapes, but his passion remained with kacho-e. His earliest and rarest designs were notable for their narrow formats and soft colors. All prints were signed or sealed Koson. A majority of them were published by Kokkeido and Daikokuya. After 1912, he changed his name to Shoson and dedicated himself to painting.

Ten years later, Koson returned to printmaking. In 1926, Koson began designing woodblock prints for the famed Shin Hanga publisher Shozaburo Watanabe. Koson changed his name once again, this time to Hoson, when he produced designs collaboratively published by Sakai and Kawaguchi around 1930. He also served as an adviser to the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. As Koson used numerous names and seals over the years, dating his work can be difficult. Some of his woodblock prints were published in different editions with variations in color. His prints and paintings can be found in major museums worldwide, such as the Freer Gallery, the Museum of Fine Art Boston and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to name but a few.

Meiji Period Prints (1868-1912)

Meiji-period woodblock prints reflect an era of change. In 1853, the arrival of Commodore Perry’s black ships brought over 250 years of Japanese isolation to an abrupt end. The following year, as Japan engaged in international trade, Yokohama-e (Yokohama pictures) captured an influx of unfamiliar peoples, places and things entering Japan through Yokohama harbor. By 1868, the Imperial line attained control of the country under Emperor Meiji, terminating the feudal rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate and dissipating the culture of the floating world. Under the emperor, national modernization progressed rapidly. From Western-style clothes and pastimes, to exciting new inventions from overseas, Japan absorbed the massive influx of the foreign and developed a distinctly Japanese modern identity. While photography and lithography gained popularity at this time, the woodblock print continued to serve as a powerful medium. Meiji period artists made sense of a transitioning world with a familiar medium.

Filter

1 Product

Clear All

Artist

  • Bairei
  • Beisaku
  • Biho
  • Chikanobu
  • Chikuseki
  • Eizan
  • Gakutei
  • Gekko
  • Ginko
  • Hiroshige
  • Hiroshige II
  • Hiroshige III
  • Hoitsu
  • Hokkei
  • Hokusai
  • Ikeda, Terukata
  • Ikuhide
  • Keinen
  • Kiyochika
  • Kogyo
  • Koson
  • Koun
  • Kunichika
  • Kunisada
  • Kunisada III
  • Kuniteru
  • Kunitoshi
  • Kuniyoshi
  • Kyosai
  • Miyagawa, Shuntei
  • Nobukazu
  • Rinsai
  • Sadahide
  • Sadanobu
  • Saigetsu
  • Seiko
  • Shimizu, Seifu
  • Shinsai
  • Sugakudo
  • Suzuki, Kinsen
  • Tadakiyo
  • Toshiaki
  • Toshihide
  • Toshikage
  • Toshikata
  • Toshimasa
  • Toshimine
  • Toyohiro
  • Yasuda, Shodo
  • Yoshifuji
  • Yoshiiku
  • Yoshikage II
  • Yoshimitsu
  • Yoshimori
  • Yoshitora
  • Yoshitoshi
  • Yoshitsuya II
  • Zeshin
  • Hasegawa, Kannosuke (Chikuyo)
  • Kaburagi, Kiyokata
  • Kajita, Hanko
  • Kokunimasa (aka Kunimasa V)
  • Mori, Shunkei
  • Watanabe, Seitei
  • Yukawa, Shodo
  • Mishima, Shoso
  • Suzuki, Kason
  • Takeuchi, Keishu
  • Fujikawa, Tamenobu
  • Tanigami, Konan
  • Terasaki, Kogyo
  • Tomioka, Eisen
  • Unsigned / Unknown Artist
  • Yamanaka, Kodo
  • Yushin, Ayaoka

Subject

  • Birds
  • Nature

Period

  • 1868 - 1912 (Meiji)

Medium

  • Woodblock Print

Size

  • Medium (ie. Oban)

1 Product

Filtered By: Koson
Two White Geese

Koson

Two White Geese

JPR-109814

SOLD