White Chinese Geese Swimming By Reeds 1928

Ohara Koson made this woodblock print of white geese and reeds, and to me, it feels like a quiet experiment in texture and tone. I can almost imagine the artist, carefully carving the wood, thinking about how each line can describe the goose’s soft feathers, or the way the reeds sway in the breeze. The dark background makes the white really pop, doesn’t it? And the artist uses these deliberate, careful lines to build the ripples in the water. Look at how the dark lines become solid, the solid becomes mass. You know, it reminds me a little of Whistler’s nocturnes, where he was also playing with light and atmosphere. In this print, Koson is talking to the traditions that came before him but also pushing it in his own way. It makes you think about how artists are always building on each other’s ideas, like an ongoing conversation. And how a simple image can hold so much depth, so much feeling.