Hen and rooster 1900 - 1936

Ohara Koson made this painting of a hen and rooster with watercolor on paper. I can imagine the artist having a lot of fun with this, playing with form and composition while at the same time using color to pull the viewer into the scene. The rooster is a moody grey, with these expressive, sweeping tail feathers that cascade down the side of the image. The hen is rendered in a stark white that looks especially luminous against the more tonal rooster. You can feel Koson's hand as he carefully renders each of the bird's feathers, capturing the way that light reflects off their bodies. The surface of the paper gives the image this gorgeous matte finish that makes the colors seem even more vibrant. The artist has worked so carefully to balance the composition and the placement of the figures within the pictorial frame. Artists like Koson offer us new ways of seeing, thinking, and feeling. They engage with the work of other artists, keeping the conversation going through time.