Two geese in flight 1900 - 1930

Ohara Koson made this lovely print of two geese in flight in the early twentieth century. The palette is pretty muted, mostly grays, creams, and blues, and I can imagine Koson carefully layering each color with a woodblock to create the final image. I wonder about the process of carving the woodblocks, mirroring and translating the original drawing into a series of tactile surfaces? It must have been a long, painstaking process, full of opportunities for happy accidents and unexpected discoveries. I imagine Koson thinking about how each mark would appear on the page, how the different colors would interact and overlap. The way the geese are depicted, with their wings outstretched and their bodies angled in different directions, suggests a sense of movement and freedom. The texture of the feathers is amazing, so detailed, but the background is so soft and atmospheric. It is a dance between precision and spontaneity, control and chance, and it invites us to contemplate the beauty and fragility of the natural world. Artists are always looking at each other's work and finding inspiration in unexpected places.