Umbrellas in Snow
by Ohara Koson
- Date:
- 1931
- Medium:
- color woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Dimensions:
- 38.5 × 25.5 cm
- Publisher:
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.
Figures huddled under umbrellas in snowfall — a rare departure from Koson's animal and bird subjects into the human figure. The 1931 date places this among his late works, and the snow scene subject connects it to the broader shin-hanga tradition's love of atmospheric winter conditions. The umbrellas' round forms create circular shapes against the falling snow, and the figures beneath them are rendered with the same careful attention to posture and silhouette that he brings to birds in comparable weather conditions.
Woodblock print
c. 1832/38
Color woodblock print; oban
Yuki no Miyajima
1929
Color woodblock print; oban
1932
Woodblock print
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Umbrellas in Snow was created by Ohara Koson (小原古邨) in 1931.
Umbrellas in Snow uses Bokashi, on color woodblock print.
Umbrellas in Snow was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1931).
Umbrellas in Snow depicts snow scenes.
Umbrellas in Snow measures 38.5 × 25.5 cm (Oban format).
