Ohara Koson — Monkey and Reflection of the Moon | Japanese Bird & Flower Woodblock Print

A grey macaque hangs by one hand from a bare branch at the top of the sheet, a foot gripping a hanging twig, and stretches its other arm down the height of the sheet toward a pale oval reflection of the moon in the water below. The monkey’s face is rendered in white with a red-rimmed brow and dark eyes. Koson’s brush signature and a red seal sit near the branch at the upper right.

Ohara Koson (1877–1945) was the leading bird-and-flower (kachō-ga) artist of the shin-hanga movement. Trained in Kanazawa and Tokyo in the Shijō painting tradition, he designed prints from around 1900, first for export publishers and from 1926 for Watanabe Shōzaburō under the name Shōson. Herons in snow, crows on a branch, goldfish and sparrows are drawn with a naturalist’s precision and printed with soft gradations and embossed feathers. His prints are held by the Rijksmuseum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Printed as a museum-grade giclée on Hahnemühle fine art paper using 12-ink archival pigment printing. Available handframed in FSC-certified wood with optional float glass, or unframed. Ships worldwide with free delivery to 30+ countries.