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.
Crows in moonlight — three or four black birds perched against the full moon's disc, their glossy feathers catching the lunar glow. This 1927 print is one of Koson's most celebrated nocturnal compositions: the crow's traditional associations with death and ill omen in Western culture vs. the more ambivalent, sometimes auspicious significance in Japan; the moonlit setting giving the scene an atmosphere of quiet mystery. The bokashi gradation of the night sky behind the moon's halo is among his finest technical achievements.
$1,800
![Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)" by Kawase Hasui](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/d0960668-1e73-339a-b182-fb995a54bff0/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
1947
Color woodblock print; oban
March 1933
Color woodblock print; oban
1919
Color woodblock print
January 1938
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Crows in moonlight was created by Ohara Koson (小原古邨) in 1927.
Crows in moonlight uses Bokashi, on color woodblock print; oban.
Crows in moonlight was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1927).
Crows in moonlight depicts moonlight and night scenes.
Crows in moonlight measures 36.2 × 24.1 cm (Oban format).
