KOSON Japanese Woodblock Print PLUM TREE & MOON 1920s

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KOSON Japanese Woodblock Print PLUM TREE & MOON 1920s:
$449.99

KOSON Japanese Woodblock Print PLUM TREE & MOON 1920s
OHARA KOSON Flowering Plum and Full Moon

Date: c. 1910s, published by Daikokuya, signed and sealed Koson
Size: o-tanzaku 7.4\" x 14.4\"
Condition: Fine, no flaws, uncirculated print
Impression: Fine, strong key lines, excellent registration
Color: Fine, deep saturated color and bleed through to verso
Documentation: K43.2* in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural world of Ohara Koson 1877-1945, illustrated pages 134 and 193
Provenance: from the estate of Robert O. Muller (see below for more information)

A flowering plum branch is illustrated against a full moon, a few petals float to the ground. The plum tree was one of the \"four gentlemen\" painted by Chinese and Japanese literati. The subject of flowering plum with a full moon was common in Japanese paintings. According to Chinese philosophy the moon is the essence of the yin or feminine principle in nature. This print is unusual in Koson\'s oeuvre in that no animals, birds or insects are included.

ABOUT OHARA KOSON
Koson, who also went by the art names of Shoson and Hoson, began his career as the student of Suzuki Koson where he painted flora and fauna between 1895-1902 gradually becoming known as a \"Nihonga\" painter in the Kacho-ga (nature print) genre. Briefly during the Russo-Japanese war Koson produced Senso-e (war prints), but the vast majority of his early prints (1900 -1912) were nature prints designed for the North American and European markets for the publishers Kokkeido and Daikokuya. These prints were all signed \"Koson\". Between 1912-1926 Koson returned to painting, but using the name “Shoson”, he continued to design woodblock prints, this time in collaboration with S. Watanabe. Koson also produced prints using the name \"Hoson” which were published by Kawaguchi between 1930-1931.

While the artists\' prints had always been sold abroad, Koson’s success was assured as a result of the 1930 and 1936 Toledo Museum exhibitions. More prints by Koson were sold during these shows than any other artists\' due to their artistic merit and their relatively inexpensiveness in comparison with of the works of Yoshida, Shinsui, Hasui and others. Koson’s career peaked in the mid 1930\'s. His work is realistic, based mainly on his own sketches and watercolors. It is estimated that he produced more than 450 designs of birds.

WHO WAS ROBERT O. MULLER?
Robert O. Muller’s love affair with Japanese prints began one day in the 1930s, when as a student in New York City he spotted a Hasui in a gallery window, and immediately arranged to purchase the print. As a newly wed in 1940 he went on a print shopping tour to Japan with his wife where he met the shin hanga publisher Watanabe Shozaburo and Watanabe’s stable of artists including: Kawase Hasui, Shiro Kasamatsu, and Ito Shinsui. He also met and befriended Hiroshi Yoshida.

After WWII, Muller continued to deal in Japanese prints, but he was also an avid collector with a keen eye for good art. Although the Muller estate is best known for shin hanga, Mr. Muller also collected late nineteenth century prints and good reproductions of famous Edo masters.

When Mr. Muller passed away on April 10, 2003, he had left possibly the largest and finest estate of 20th century Japanese prints in the world, and the question of what would become of his estate was a major topic among Japanese print collectors. The finest 20th century prints from his estate were given as a gift to the Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C., and an exhibit was mounted. Other portions of the estate were sold at sale and still more remains with his heirs. Several books have been published about the estate.

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