Two Deer 1900 - 1930

Ohara Koson made this print of two deer, at an unknown date, using woodblock printing techniques. Imagine Koson working away at the block, carefully carving away the wood to leave the image of the deer behind. It’s a slow, meditative process. You need a steady hand and a good eye to get the details just right, to make the animals both realistic and dreamlike. Look at the way Koson has rendered the fur of the deer with a stippling effect. Each dot is like a little kiss of color, and it gives the animals a sense of texture and volume. It is like he is trying to capture not just what they look like, but also what it feels like to see them. It reminds me of the way Morandi painted his bottles again and again, always looking for a new way to capture the essence of his subject. This print feels part of a long conversation with other artists across time. It is a reminder that art is never really finished, that it’s always being remade and reinterpreted by each new viewer.