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Artist BioLabel
Ohara Shôson was a master of early 20th-century kacho-e, bird and flower pictures. He began producing woodblock prints in 1905, and fluctuated between working in painting and prints. He signed his prints using three different names throughout his career, each indicating what publisher he was working with at the time. He first signed his name as Kôson, and switched to Shôson in 1926 when he began creating designs for the extremely influential publisher Watanabe Shôzaburô. He also worked with the publisher Kawaguchi, signing his name as Hôson.Label Type
Object LabelLabel
Japanese woodblock prints are very delicate, and thus have very specific standards for their care so that they can be preserved for generations to come. They are typically stored in flat files: acid-free folders in light-proof drawers. Before this print came into SUMA’s collection, it was improperly cared for–being framed and exposed to light–which is a probable reason why the ink in this print appears to be more faded than prints with this same design in other museum’s collections.