Gallery 3F: Ohara Shōson

Ohara Shōson (1877-1945) was a Shin-Hanga artist best known for his Kacho-e (Birds and flower prints). He produced prints for several publishers. Those produced for Akiyama Buemon (Kokkeidō), Matsuki Heikichi (Daikokuya), and Matsumoto are signed Koson.

Shōson was recruited by the publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō around 1926. Works published by Watanabe are signed and/or sealed Shōson. Additional works were designed for the publisher Kawaguchi and are signed and/or sealed Hōson.

Watanabe published a catalogue of available prints in 1936 which identifies the species of birds and trees/flowers for the miniatures prints. Numbers that are listed with Watanabe produced prints on this page are in reference to their number in this catalogue. Numbers associated with the publisher Matsumoto are from that publisher’s catalogue from about 1910.

Print titles are derived from either the Watanabe or Matsumoto Catalogue or the book Crows, Cranes, and Camellias, the Natural World of Ohara Koson ( Amy Reigle Newland, Jan Perree, and Robert Schaap, Hotei Publishing, Lieden 2001). When titles are not available, simple descriptors are used.

The two copies of Eagle on a Branch in a Storm above are from two separate catalogues of prints by Matsumoto. The image is similar to a larger ō-tanzaku print (34.7 x 18.4) published by Daikokuya with some notable differences in the branch twigs and location of the feather blowing in the wind. The image to the right is minimally trimmed at the top and is missing the feather to the left of the image. Distortions of the paper in the lower left of both prints are attributable to a small label affixed to the back.

The print below was tipped into an accordion book of woodblock prints published by Sakai & Co. whose shop was located across the street from the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. Since the book noted this unique location, the book must date between 1923, the year the construction of the hotel was completed and 1968, the year the hotel was demolished. The book clearly attributes the print to Koson (Shoson) with accurate years of the artist’s birth and death, which would then place the publication’s earliest possible date as 1945, the year that the artist died. The image is unusual in that it does not include a typical Koson seal, although it includes Koson’s signature within the print. The title is taken from the description in the book.

The three images below are from the Matsumoto catalogue of woodblock prints. They are all sealed Yamagishi which may represent the carver and artist Kazue Yamagishi (1891-1984) who was frequently recruited by other artists to carve the blocks for thier work. The Matsumoto catalog states that the print Iris and Bee is "Reproduced from a rare picture by Koson”. The catalogue does not reference the artist for the other two prints as is the case for many prints in the catalogue. However, Koson is specifically credited in others. It is uncertain whether these additional prints are reproduced Koson designs, reproduced from another artist’s designs, or originals by Yamagashi.

The three prints below are unsigned and without seals. They have been variously attributed to different artists including Shōson.

The image to the left is an adaptation of the Shōson print Sparrows and Nanten Plants in Snow exhibited above (replicated on the right below). The plagiarized print lacks a Shōson seal and is notable for 1) replication of the two birds on the ground which are moved from the center of the design, 2) replication of the foliage but flipped horizontally with some additional changes snow coverage, and 3) the addition of both a descending bird in the branches and a flowering plant on the right. It is not uncommon to find small print designs which have been copied with or without modification and attributed to artists other than the original designer. This print is signed “Hiroshige” a common ploy used to increase sales due to an association with the well known master.