Flowering iris 1934

Ohara Koson made this woodblock print of flowering irises sometime between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Koson was part of the Shin-Hanga movement in Japan, an early-twentieth-century artistic movement which revitalized traditional ukiyo-e art. Ukiyo-e which translates as 'pictures of the floating world' was a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Shin-Hanga art retained ukiyo-e's emphasis on landscapes, beautiful women, and natural scenes, but adapted it to appeal to western tastes by incorporating elements of realism and western perspective. The movement was driven by commercial motivations with many prints, like this one, being produced for export to western markets. This print therefore occupies an interesting place between Japanese tradition and western modernity. Historians examine export and trade statistics, collections of letters, and the biographies of artists and patrons to understand the social conditions which underpinned this artwork. The meaning of art is always shaped by these contexts.