Owl (1)

The first of Aoyama Masaharu's owl compositions — a subject at the center of his most celebrated work as a sosaku-hanga printmaker. His owls demonstrate the qualities for which his art was most praised: the exceptional precision of his carving, which rendered the complex textures of feathers with unusual fidelity; the confidence of his compositional design, which placed the nocturnal bird in settings that amplified its mysterious presence; and the synthesis of traditional kachō-ga (bird-and-flower) conventions with the modern creative printmaker's personal vision. The owl's forward-facing eyes give it a humanoid quality that has attracted artists across cultures.