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Hollyhock and Dragonflies
— Showa Woodblock, Lifetime Impression
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Ohara Koson
Hollyhock and Dragonflies
— Showa Woodblock, Lifetime Impression1934
1934
$2,800
£2,133.65
€2,460.69
CA$3,976.84
A$4,272.89
CHF 2,292.40
MX$50,339.57
About the Item
Ohara Koson, 'Hollyhock and Dragonflies', color woodblock, 'oban tate-e', 1934. Signed 'Shoson' with the 'Shoson' red seal, lower right. A superb impression, life-time impression, with fresh, vivid colors and pronounced woodgrain, printed on cream wove Japan paper; the full sheet in excellent condition. Rare.
Published by Watanabe Shozaburo, with the copyright ‘C’ seal, in the lower left margin, indicating a first, or early impression, printed between 1929 and 1942. With the 'MADE IN JAPAN' stamp applied to a small rectangle of Japan paper and laid onto the sheet, in the bottom center, verso— an export designation used between 1921 and 1939.
Image size 14 3/8 x 9 7/16 inches (362 x 240 mm); sheet size: 15 1/4 x 10 3/8 inches ( 387 x 264 mm). Archivally sleeved, unmatted.
Literature: "Crows, cranes and camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson". Newland Amy; Jan Perrée
Robert Schaap. Leiden: Hotei Publishing, 2001, pg. 201.
Impressions of this work are held in the collections of the Chazen Museum of Art, and the Toledo Museum of Art.
ABOUT THE IMAGE
In Japanese culture, dragonflies (tonbo) have long been admired for their tireless flight and seeming mastery of the air. Hollyhocks (fuyō), depicted here in full bloom, are likewise valued for their towering growth and exuberant seasonal presence. In this print, Koson Ohara appears to emphasize the visual dialogue between the jewel-like dragonflies and the rising hollyhock stalks, capturing a fleeting atmospheric transition as early morning light shifts from warm gold to translucent blue. The scene invites the viewer to linger in an appreciative moment of nature's wondrous equilibrium.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Koson Ohara (also known as Shōson and Hōson) is widely regarded as the most accomplished Japanese artist of early twentieth-century kachō-e (bird-and-flower pictures) woodblock printmaking. Through meticulous observation, refined draftsmanship, and a nuanced command of color, Koson revitalized the genre for a modern audience while remaining deeply rooted in classical Japanese pictorial traditions.
Born in Kanazawa as Matao Ohara, Koson began his training in painting under the Shijō-school master Kason, whose emphasis on naturalistic observation remained central to his work. Around the turn of the century, Koson relocated to Tokyo, where he became associated with the Tokyo art world and, during this period, encountered Ernest Fenollosa, the American scholar and collector whose advocacy of Japanese art proved instrumental in shaping Western appreciation of the genre. Around 1905, Koson turned decisively to woodblock print design. Fenollosa, then closely connected to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, encouraged the export of Koson’s bird-and-flower prints to American collectors, helping to establish his early international reputation.
Between roughly 1900 and 1912, Koson worked with several publishers, producing designs that included Russo-Japanese War subjects and landscape scenes, though his artistic focus remained firmly on kachō-e. His earliest and rarest prints from this period are distinguished by narrow vertical formats, restrained palettes, and a delicate atmospheric sensibility. These works were typically signed or sealed “Koson” and were most often published by Kokkeidō and Daikokuyā. After 1912, Koson adopted the name Shōson and largely withdrew from printmaking to concentrate on painting.
In the mid-1920s, Koson returned to woodblock print design, entering into a highly productive collaboration with the Shin Hanga publisher Shōzaburō Watanabe beginning in 1926. Around 1930, when working with the publishers Sakai and Kawaguchi, he adopted the name Hōson. These later prints represent the culmination of his mature style, combining technical precision with a heightened sense of atmosphere and compositional clarity. During this period, Koson also served in an advisory capacity to Japan’s National Museum of Modern Art.
Koson’s woodblock prints are now held in major public collections worldwide, including the British Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Freer Gallery of Art, Harvard Art Museums, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, affirming his central position in the history of modern Japanese printmaking.
- Creator:Ohara Koson (1877 - 1945, Japanese)
- Creation Year:1934
- Dimensions:Height: 14.38 in (36.53 cm)Width: 9.44 in (23.98 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Myrtle Beach, SC
- Reference Number:Seller: 981841stDibs: LU532317489322
Ohara Koson
Ohara Koson was a prolific printmaker of the 20th century widely known for his kacho-ga, bird and flower prints. During his study with Kason, he took his artist name Koson, a partial adaptation of his teacher's name. Early in his career, many of Koson’s prints were muted in color and captured a sense of calmness and elegance. Koson’s depiction of birds are very realistic, the details of body and feathers in particular were always depicted with meticulous care.
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Image size 13 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches (343 x 184 mm); sheet size 14 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches (368 x 191 mm). Archivally sleeved, unmatted.
Literature: 'Crows, Cranes, and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson', Newland, Amy R.: Jan Perree & Robert Schaap, Leiden: Hotei Publishing, 2001. S39.1, pl 169.
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