Cockatoos
by Ohara Koson
- Date:
- 1930s
- Medium:
- Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
- Format:
- Oban
- Dimensions:
- 33 × 23.8 cm
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
by Ohara Koson
Koson's vast output of ~450 designs spans birds, flowers, fish, insects, and occasional landscapes. While his large production keeps most prints accessible, early Kokkeido-period impressions with muted, elegant Meiji-era coloring are distinctly more sought after than the brighter later Watanabe editions.
A pair or group of cockatoos — likely white cockatoos with their dramatic crested heads — rendered with the same meticulous attention Koson brought to Japanese native species. The cockatoo was an exotic subject in early Showa Japan, associated with Australasia and the tropics rather than the domestic avifauna. His engagement with foreign species reflects both his ornithological curiosity and the international market that his publishers cultivated for shin-hanga bird prints.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Cockatoos was created by Ohara Koson (小原古邨) in 1930s.
Cockatoos was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1930s).
Cockatoos depicts birds & flowers and animals.
Cockatoos measures 33 × 23.8 cm (Oban format).
