A Japanese wood block print after Ohara Koson, 20th Century. "Cranes". Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Egrets by water in moonlight. Measurement printed motif 24x36 cm. Measurement sheet 25x37 cm.
Wear. Marks. Holes by edges.
Provenance
The Erik Holmberg Collection.
From the Collection of Erik Holmberg, thence by descent. Bankdirektör Erik Holmberg was born in 1888 (died 1972), married to Esther Holmberg (?-1955). Erik Holmberg made a career at Svenska Handelsbanken and worked there as a Bank Manager up until his pension. He grew up in Trysil, Norway which came to make an impact upon him and he continued to enjoy nature, skiing and hiking throughout his life. He and his beloved wife Ester lived in a villa at Lidingö, Stockholm where he also kept his wooden sailboat Albertina.
Erik early on became fascinated with Asian Art, and was a true academic collector who had a curiosity and strive to learn more about the subject all the time, this is clearly visible in his catalogue cards about his pieces, all his letters to museum directors, dealers and other collectors and members of the China club at the time.
Set a part from his attraction to the Asian art he also collected Swedish contemporary ceramics from Stig Lindberg, Wilhelm Kåge and Bertil Friberg.
He was an active member of the Östasiatiska Museets vänner and he donated several of his contemporary Chinese paintings to the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm.
More information
Ohara Koson (小原 古邨, Kanazawa 1877 – Tokyo 1945) was a Japanese painter and print designer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, part of the shin-hanga ("new prints") movement.
He was born Ohara Matao; it is thought that he started training in painting and design at the Ishikawa Prefecture Technical School in 1889–1893. He also studied painting with Suzuki Kason (1860–1919), although accounts differ on whether this happened during his school years or after he moved to Tokyo in the middle to late 1890s.
In Tokyo, he produced some ukiyo-e triptychs illustrating episodes of the Russo-Japanese War, but most of his production was prints of birds-and-flowers (kachō-e). He worked at first with publishers Akiyama Buemon (Kokkeidō) and Matsuki Heikichi (Daikokuya), signing his work Koson. Starting around 1926, he became associated with the publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō, and signed his work Shōson. He also worked with the publisher Kawaguchi, signing his works Hōson.
Through his association with Watanabe, Ohara's work was exhibited abroad, and his prints sold well, particularly in the United States. He was active designing prints until at least 1935, and died at his home in Tokyo in 1945.
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