Lakeside

This print departs from the urban-industrial subjects that dominate Ono's prewar output, suggesting either a later work or one of the landscape exercises he produced alongside his factory series. The lakeside subject places him briefly in dialogue with the meisho-e tradition and with the lyrical landscape work of fellow sosaku-hanga artists like Hiratsuka and Maekawa Sempan. The composition likely employs a horizontal layout with the water plane occupying the middle register, treated through bokashi gradation on a single block to suggest depth and atmospheric softness. Even in a pastoral subject, Ono's carving tends to retain the angular, faceted line of his industrial work rather than smoothing toward decorative effect. The print reflects the broader range he developed across his fifty-year career, which encompassed both socially-engaged graphics and quieter observational landscapes drawn from travel within the Japanese countryside.