Nanten Bush and Fly Catchers in Snow

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Nanten Bush and Fly Catchers in Snow

Artist Ohara Shoson (Japanese, 1877-1945)

Publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962)

Date1929

Dimensionsoverall: 15 1/2 x 10 1/4 in. (39.4 x 26 cm)
image: 14 5/16 x 9 1/2 in. (36.3 x 24.1 cm)

Mediumcolor woodblock print

ClassificationPrints

Credit LineGift of Hubert D. Bennett

Object number

1939.276

Not on View

Label TextBlue and White Flycatchers, migratory songbirds that breed in Japan, Korea, and parts of China and Russia, are shown feeding on the berries of the nandina bush (Nanten in Japan), though they typically winter in Southeast Asia. Koson’s composition takes full advantage of the pleasing contrast of the bright red berries against the stark white snow against the iridescent blue of the birds, all accented by the rhythm of the ladders of thin green leaves.Published ReferencesPutney, Carolyn M., Kendall H. Brown, Koyama Shuko, and Paul Binnie, Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art, 2013. repr. (col.) pp. 226Exhibition HistoryToledo, Toledo Museum of Art, A Special Exhibition of Modern Japanese Prints, March 2-- March 30, 1930, repr. pl. 193.

Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Modern Japanese Prints, July 16 - August 18, 1937.

Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art, For the Birds, April 13-October 14, 2012.

Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art, Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, October 4, 2013-January 1, 2014.