Ohara Koson

Shoson, Hoson, 1877-1945

Bamboo Basket of Fruit - Watercolor with Two Keyblock Proofs and Two Woodblock Prints

watercolor signed Hoson with artist's seal Hoson; both proofs signed Hoson; both woodblock prints signed Hoson and sealed Hoson; (final) print with grey background with faintly impressed seal hori Maeda, suri Komatsu, hanken shoyu (carved by Maeda [Kentaro], printed by Komatsu Wasankichi], copyright) on lower right margin, and publisher's small oval impressed seal on lower left margin, Kawaguchi, ca. 1931

watercolor 11 by 15 3/4 in., 28 by 39.9 cm
keyblock proof 11 1/8 by 15 7/8 in., 28.2 by 40.2 cm

The artist Ohara Koson adopted the go (artist's name) Hoson in circa 1930 when he began to collaborate with the publishers Kawaguchi and Sakai (and later just Kawaguchi). Hoson prints published by Kawaguchi tend to be far more scarce than those produced by the artist (under the name Koson) with Watanabe Shozaburo, who presided over a much larger publishing enterprise. While this design was indeed finalized and released commercially, extant impressions are scarce.

References:
Amy Newland, et. al., Crows, Cranes & Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson 1877-1945, 2001, Hoson appendix, p. 203, no. H43.5 (black and white image with question mark following attribution to Kawaguchi as publisher)

(inv. no. C-2026)

price: Sold