Frogs Wrestling

Two frogs engaged in a wrestling match — a subject that Koson approaches with deadpan humor, the dignified medium of the woodblock print applied to an absurd spectacle of two small green combatants grappling with each other's limbs. Koson had a gift for the comic within the naturalistic: his frog subjects in particular carry a wit that never mocks the creatures but finds genuine pleasure in their improbable dignity. The print likely presents the frogs close-up against a spare ground, their struggle occupying the entire compositional focus.