Yūgure no hansen (Evening sailboats - alternate impression)
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.
"Yūgure no hansen" is a [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) print by Ohara Koson, created during the Meiji to Showa periods. This abstract work reflects the artist's exploration of form, color, and texture through the woodblock medium.
Ohara Koson approaches abstraction through the unique constraints and possibilities of woodblock printing, where the grain of the wood, the pressure of the [baren](/glossary/baren), and the interaction of pigment and paper all contribute to the final image. Koson (also known as Shoson) was the greatest [kacho-e](/glossary/kacho-e) (bird-and-flower) artist of the twentieth century, creating prints of exquisite naturalistic detail that captured birds, animals, and plants with scientific precision and artistic poetry.
As a [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) work — designed, carved, and printed entirely by the artist's own hand — this print embodies the creative philosophy that the printmaker's personal expression should permeate every stage of production, from concept to finished impression.
This print represents Ohara Koson's contribution to the shin-hanga tradition during the Meiji to Showa periods. As with all works by this artist, it reflects both individual artistic vision and the broader cultural moment in which it was created. For collectors and admirers of Japanese printmaking, it offers a window into the sophisticated aesthetic world that produced some of the most beloved images in art history.
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 - alternate impression) was created by Ohara Koson (小原古邨) in 1900-1915.
Yūgure no hansen (Evening sailboats - alternate impression) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1900-1915).
Yūgure no hansen (Evening sailboats - alternate impression) depicts night scenes.
