Flock of ducks flying above snowy reed collar 1900 - 1945

Ohara Koson created this print of ducks taking flight above snow-covered reeds with ink and colours on paper. Look at the scene – it's so spare and yet full of life. I can imagine Koson carefully carving each block, inking it just so, and pressing it onto the paper. You know, printmaking is like slow painting, each layer building on the last to make something delicate and strong. I wonder what Koson was thinking as he carved those ducks; it looks like he was probably feeling the cold of the winter air, the sharpness of the reeds, and the urgent flap of the ducks' wings. The blue sky feels so vast and empty. The gesture of the wings is great – they slice through the air. The reeds in the foreground, bent under the snow, make me think of brushstrokes in a Chinese landscape painting, like he’s inviting us to imagine the invisible currents of nature, and I think that’s the point. Painters, printmakers, we're all in this ongoing conversation, borrowing from each other across time.