Koson Ohara

*

Koson Ohara 1877-1945

A cuckoo



Although he was a ukiyo-e artist
Koson Ohara originally studied painting
and became proficient
in both watercolours and oils.

Flowering wisteria and insect

In the early 1900s
during the Russo-Japanese war
he produced war prints
as the interest in traditional ukiyo-e
had all but died out.

Flycatcher and spider



But within ten years
the camera had replaced
the print maker as the medium
for disseminating news

Hawk and setting sun



Koson is the best known print maker
for kacho-e-
prints of flowers and birds

Kingfisher on stump



Koson taught at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts
where an American colleague
by the name of Ernest Fenellosa
encouraged him to make wood block prints
in the old style.

Monkey on a persimmon tree



After 1926 Koson returned to ukiyo-e
and was published by Wanatabe Shozaburo
the initiator of the Shin Hanga movement,
the renaissance of the wood block print art
of Ukiyo-e

Nuthatcher atop a persimmon



Practically all of Koson's prints
were exported to the USA
as Japan had lost interest
in the ukiyo-e art form

Praying mantis on a willow



Koson's skill as a painter
is evidenced in the water colour effect
of his prints

Scops owl on a branch at full moon



His kacho-e were performed
with an extremely high
degree of craftsmanship

Spring evening



Koson Ohara is sometimes known
as Hoson Ohara
Shoson Ohara,
or the other way around
It is the same artist.

Tree sparrow and bamboo



A master wood block artist
of flowers and birdlife

White fronted goose before full moon

*