Ohara Koson (Japanese, 1877 – 1945) | Eagle and sparrows

Project Description

Description: Hanging scroll; ink and colour on silk, 129.9 x 48.6 cm. Signed Koson, sealed Ohara
Catalogue note: Koson Ohara was born in 1877 in Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture in the North of Japan. He had studied painting as a student of Suzuki Koson. Around 1905, Koson started to practice Japanese block printing. Between 1900 and 1912 Koson designed mostly kacho-e (bird-and-flower pictures), but also a few Russo-Japanese War prints and genre landscapes. Around 1911, Koson assumed the name “Shoson” and rededicated himself to painting. He returned to Japanese block printing ten years later.  By 1926, he met Watanabe and produced prints for him under the name Shoson. Koson changed his name once again, this time to Hoson, when he produced designs collaboratively published by Sakai and Kawaguchi. As Koson used numerous names and seals over the years, dating Koson’s woodblock prints can be difficult. Some of his prints were published in different editions with variations in colours. Koson’s earliest and most coveted designs are notable for their narrow formats and soft colours. His reverence for the natural world is apparent in his meticulous detail and unfailing verisimilitude, yielding designs of an unmatched intimate beauty.
Provenance: Acquired from Christie’s, Sale 15026, Lot 46, Invoice no. DB6403193. Galerie Le Point Cardinal, Paris. | Acquired from it by the current owner
Catalogue no.: 2017P0116-OK