Two swallows perch among hanging wisteria blossoms

Two swallows with glossy black-and-white plumage and rose-flushed faces perch on a gnarled branch amid trailing clusters of lavender wisteria, one facing the viewer while the other looks downward with wings half-raised. Slender green wisteria leaves and a curling seed pod frame the composition against a plain warm yellow ground. The artist's signature and red seal sit at right. The pairing of swallows, heralds of spring, with wisteria in bloom is a classic bird-and-flower subject Koson revisited often in his 1930s prints.

Ohara Koson (1877–1945) was the leading bird-and-flower (kachō-ga) artist of the shin-hanga movement. Trained in Kanazawa and Tokyo in the Shijō painting tradition, he designed prints from around 1900, first for export publishers and from 1926 for Watanabe Shōzaburō under the name Shōson. Herons in snow, crows on a branch, goldfish and sparrows are drawn with a naturalist's precision and printed with soft gradations and embossed feathers. His prints are held by the Rijksmuseum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Printed as a museum-grade giclée on Hahnemühle fine art paper using 12-ink archival pigment printing. Available handframed in FSC-certified wood with optional float glass, or unframed. Ships worldwide with free delivery to 30+ countries.