Background
Ohara Koson was born Ohara Matao in 1877 in Kanazawa, Japan.
小原 古邨
Ohara Koson was born Ohara Matao in 1877 in Kanazawa, Japan.
It is thought that he started training in painting and design at the Ishikawa Prefecture Technical School in 1889–1893. He also studied painting with Suzuki Kason (1860–1919), although accounts differ on whether this happened during his school years or after he moved to Tokyo in the middle to late 1890s.
In Tokyo, he produced some ukiyo-e triptychs illustrating episodes of the Russo-Japanese War, but most of his production was prints of birds-and-flowers (kachō-e). He worked at first with publishers Akiyama Buemon (Kokkeidō) and Matsuki Heikichi (Daikokuya), signing his work Koson. Starting around 1926, he became associated with the publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō, and signed his work Shōson. He also worked with the publisher Kawaguchi, signing his works Hōson.
He was active designing prints until at least 1935, and died at his home in Tokyo in 1945.
Wagtail
White-fronted goose descending over reeds
Bird and Begonias
Wasps and Praying Mantis
Pheasant in Flight
Lily and Butterflies
Two Gallinules in Shallow Water
Cherry on a Moonlit Night
Nuthatch
The spiderweb
Crane in small water
Owl on ginkgo branch (Scops owl under crescent moon)
Fox in the reeds
Carps
Leaping Carp
Oriole
Bullfinch on Flowering Plum
Copper Pheasant in Snow
Snail on the bamboo leaf
Golden Carp
Giant Tit on Snowy Branch
Stag and Recumbent Doe
Torii and Crow in the Snow
Songbird on Barley Stalk
Swallows with cherry blossom
Tits on Maple
Crossbill
Night Heron on a Snowy Branch
Quails
Siberian Blue Robin
Hen and two chicks in grass
Seagulls over the Waves
Cat Catching a Mouse
Praying mantis
Butterfly and lily
Cuckoo - Early Summer's Rain
Kingfisher
Camellia and Rice Birds
Flowering iris
Tree sparrow and bamboo
Two white geese
Goshawk on snowy branch
Eagle under snow
A Pair of Pheasants in the Snow
Sparrow and Scarecrow
Monkey with her child
Swallow with Peony
Orange-Breasted Bird
Great tits on a branch
Grasshoper and Fool Moon
Starlings and Cherry Tree
Carp and Bee
Cormorant
A flycatcher on cucumber bush
Snipe in Rain
Eight White-fronted Geese in Flight; full Moon behind
Eagle in descent
Crabs
Blue Bird and Magnolia
Heron in Downpour
Jays on Berry Tree
Two barn swallows on blossoming cherry
Crow eating a Persimmon
Dragonfly and Lotus
Peacock
Sandpipers
Lapwing on Tree Stump
Grasshoppers on Rice Plants
Songbird in Reeds
Goose on the snow
Cherry blossom with birds
Gallinule Bird and Water Strider
Flying white-fronted goose seen from underneath in front of the moon
Two Beauties in Rain
Rooster and Hen at Sunrise
Crow on a Snowy Branch
Wheater and bamboo
Mallards in Snow
Knots on Shore
Swallows in Flight
White Birds in Snow
Rooster and Hen
Wheatear and Bamboo
Moon and Blue Flowers
Lapwing
Sparrows on bamboo tree
Geese In Flight Before A Full Moon
Crow on the snowy branch
Mallards and Moon
Two herons in flight
Crow
Redstart on cherry branch
Stonechat and blossoming flower
Two white cranes
Stonechat
Three White Mice
Songbird and Lotus
Songbird on plum blossom
Peacock
Two White Cockatoos on a Red Bar
Mandarin Ducks
Rooster and chicks
Pheasant on Branch
Falcon on a Branch
Fishing Boats at Sea
Monkey Swinging from a Bamboo Branch, Observing a Fly
Peacock and Hen
Twilight
Cat and Bowl of Goldfish
Crow on a Cherry Branch
Two koi carps
Swooping Eagle
Three Tree Sparrows in a rain shower
Two green peacocks on the bough of a flowering tree
Wisteria and Bee
Two sparrows in flight
Mount Fuji
Mallards
Sandpipers and Moon
Leaping Salmon
Red crowned Crane
Monkey on the tree
Small butterfly and sunflower
Crane over his nest
Pheasants on the snow
Small white egret
Quail over the forest
Two Barn Swallows in Flight, Willow Branch and Flowering Cherry above
Two Gallinules
Mandarin Ducks in Snow