A pink-scaled koi glides through pale, open water

A large koi with a red-orange head and back and a white-pink belly swims diagonally downward, its net-like scale pattern rendered in fine red washes. A second grey carp glides above it, half faded into the pale ground, its head visible at upper left. The composition sits on a pale, unbounded ground suggesting water. The artist's red seal appears at lower left.

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.