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.
Geese in V-formation fly before a full moon, their silhouettes dark against the illuminated disc — one of the most classically Japanese of compositional formulas, repeated across centuries of painting and printmaking. Koson's pre-1912 version of this subject establishes early in his career his mastery of the nocturnal composition: the moon perfectly positioned, the geese's V-shape completing the circle's geometry, the bokashi gradation giving the moonlit sky its depth and luminosity.
![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.
Flying Geese and Moon was created by Ohara Koson (小原古邨) in before 1912.
Flying Geese and Moon uses Bokashi, on woodblock print, ink and color on paper.
Flying Geese and Moon was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (before 1912).
Flying Geese and Moon depicts moonlight and night scenes.
Flying Geese and Moon measures 34.5 × 18.3 cm (Oban format).
