* 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 *
