Today, unfortunately, little is known about the Japanese artist Ohara Koson. Koson's works seem very graphic. Birds, flowers and other natural motifs make up the majority of his paintings. The subtly chosen colors are of natural beauty and present the classic picture themes of the talented Japanese artist from a perspective that was quite modern for that time.
The content of Koson's painting studies was oriented towards the Nihonga style. The aim of this art movement was to preserve and modernise the elements of traditional Japanese painting. Nihonga is the counterpart to the Western influenced Japanese painting, which is called Yōga. Works in Nihonga style do without depth depictions and shadows. The paintings only appear plastic due to the contrasts of the planar colour tones. After his studies Ohara Koson taught at the Tokyo Academy of Arts, which later became the Tokyo University of Arts. During his creative period, the Japanese artist devoted himself intensively to woodblock printmaking. Ernest Francisco Fenollosa encouraged Koson to take this step. The American was a professor of philosophy and economics. He taught at the Tokyo University of the Arts and worked for the art department of the Imperial Museum in Tokyo. During Japan's modernization, the passionate Orientalist Fenollosa was committed to the preservation of traditional art. Between 1910 and 1912, Ohara Koson published flower pictures, which he made with the traditional Japanese woodblock technique. He then turned away from the technique and invested all his energy in painting. His works appeared at that time under the artist name Shōson. In the mid-1920s he returned to woodblock printing. Numerous works in the classical style were created, which were reproduced and published by the Watanabe publishing house Shōzaburō. In Japan and abroad, especially in the United States, the art prints met with great interest.
Ohara Koson had a lasting influence on the preservation and modernization of classical Japanese art. A large part of his works can be assigned to the style of ukiyo-e ("pictures of the flowing world"). These works reflect the world view and the attitude to life of the urban bourgeoisie. Typical motifs are animal and plant depictions. Furthermore, in his late artistic work Koson was part of the so-called Shin-Hanga movement, which translated means "new prints". Western elements, for example the typical lighting mood of impressionist works, were incorporated into the traditional Japanese pictorial motifs. Modern influences and tradition went hand in hand. Koson produced about 500 prints during his lifetime. In 1935 the artist died in his house in Tokyo.
Today, unfortunately, little is known about the Japanese artist Ohara Koson. Koson's works seem very graphic. Birds, flowers and other natural motifs make up the majority of his paintings. The subtly chosen colors are of natural beauty and present the classic picture themes of the talented Japanese artist from a perspective that was quite modern for that time.
The content of Koson's painting studies was oriented towards the Nihonga style. The aim of this art movement was to preserve and modernise the elements of traditional Japanese painting. Nihonga is the counterpart to the Western influenced Japanese painting, which is called Yōga. Works in Nihonga style do without depth depictions and shadows. The paintings only appear plastic due to the contrasts of the planar colour tones. After his studies Ohara Koson taught at the Tokyo Academy of Arts, which later became the Tokyo University of Arts. During his creative period, the Japanese artist devoted himself intensively to woodblock printmaking. Ernest Francisco Fenollosa encouraged Koson to take this step. The American was a professor of philosophy and economics. He taught at the Tokyo University of the Arts and worked for the art department of the Imperial Museum in Tokyo. During Japan's modernization, the passionate Orientalist Fenollosa was committed to the preservation of traditional art. Between 1910 and 1912, Ohara Koson published flower pictures, which he made with the traditional Japanese woodblock technique. He then turned away from the technique and invested all his energy in painting. His works appeared at that time under the artist name Shōson. In the mid-1920s he returned to woodblock printing. Numerous works in the classical style were created, which were reproduced and published by the Watanabe publishing house Shōzaburō. In Japan and abroad, especially in the United States, the art prints met with great interest.
Ohara Koson had a lasting influence on the preservation and modernization of classical Japanese art. A large part of his works can be assigned to the style of ukiyo-e ("pictures of the flowing world"). These works reflect the world view and the attitude to life of the urban bourgeoisie. Typical motifs are animal and plant depictions. Furthermore, in his late artistic work Koson was part of the so-called Shin-Hanga movement, which translated means "new prints". Western elements, for example the typical lighting mood of impressionist works, were incorporated into the traditional Japanese pictorial motifs. Modern influences and tradition went hand in hand. Koson produced about 500 prints during his lifetime. In 1935 the artist died in his house in Tokyo.
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