Yūgure no hansen (Evening sailboats)
by Ohara Koson
- Date:
- 1900-1915
- Medium:
- Color woodcut
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Edition:
- Published by Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Library of Congress
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.
"Yugure no hansen" — evening sailboats — captures small sailing vessels in the soft light of late afternoon or early evening, the sails catching the last direct light while the water darkens below. Produced between 1900 and 1915, this early work shows Koson's engagement with landscape subjects before his full focus narrowed to bird-and-flower themes. The sailboats' triangular sails against a colored sky create a composition of pure formal elegance, the transition from day to night rendered in the warm tones of Japanese woodblock at its most atmospheric.
Woodblock print
Teradomari no yau
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
![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
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Yūgure no hansen (Evening sailboats) was created by Ohara Koson (小原古邨) in 1900-1915.
Yūgure no hansen (Evening sailboats) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1900-1915).
Yūgure no hansen (Evening sailboats) depicts night scenes.
