Ohara Koson

Ohara Koson (1877-1945)

In the Edo period, when printing and photographic techniques were not yet widespread, ukiyo-e prints were enjoyed by the general public as an entertainment.

A variety of works such as actor paintings, bijin-ga paintings, and famous paintings were produced mainly in cities, and in the process, bird-and-flower prints also existed as a genre. Koson's flower and bird prints, which appeared in the latter half of the Meiji era, were reborn as new prints with gorgeous colors and modern realistic expressions, and were widely accepted in the West.

Koson's work was a new Japanese painting that was put into practice in the genre of bird- and- flower prints, which was dressed in Eastern and Western paintings.

From his depiction, you can feel his soft look, who loved the scenery around him. Flowers and plants, naturally moving birds and small animals are drawn with seasonal backgrounds such as the moon, rain and snow, clear sky and clear water, cold rain, tranquility of snowy days, all of them. It seems that the afterimage of the 100-year-old era when it was comfortable is transmitted.

Koson created more than 600 kinds of flower and bird prints and sold them overseas.