Twee ganzen bij bananenboom 1900 - 1945

Ohara Koson made this print of two geese by a banana tree, but when he did I have no idea. What strikes me is how the whiteness of the geese is both flat and alive; the almost imperceptible gradations in tone suggest the volume and weight of the bird. The process of woodblock printing can be very physical, requiring great care and precision to achieve its effects. Look at the single goose standing proudly; each feather is delineated in such a way as to give the impression of fluffy texture, yet the application of the ink is so subtle as to almost disappear. Koson here is working within a long tradition of Japanese printmaking but these geese remind me of the work of John James Audubon, who was, of course, making pictures of birds at around the same time. Both are using close observation of nature to reach towards something more abstract. Art is like one big conversation, don't you think?