Watercolor Painting Woodblock Prints

This month's feature is two woodblock prints of watercolor paintings by Japanese artist Ogata Kōrin. They are numbered in the Dard Hunter collection as #2414 and #2415. The first piece is titled A Deer under a Maple-tree, and features a Japanese maple tree with a small, antlered deer standing below. The second piece is titled Nunobiki Waterfall and features four men and a child looking at Nunobiki Falls in Kobe, Japan. Both pieces have a reproduction of Ogata's signature and seal. The original watercolor pieces were created between 1670 and 1716, while the woodblock prints shown here were created in 1910. 

Ogata was a leading artist in the Rinpa movement, or 'The School of Kōrin', which focused on natural art depicted with abstract forms and strong design elements. Although he was not the founder, the Rinpa movement is named after Ogata, where 'Rin' comes from his name, Kōrin, and 'pa' comes from the word for school. Ogata was known for his folding screen art as well as featuring deer and flowers as subject matter. A Deer under a Maple-tree was first reproduced in the fourth volume of Kōrin Hyakuzu (One Hundred Paintings by Kōrin) in 1826, and later featured in the Japanese fine art publication Kokka (meaning 'Flowers of the Nation') in 1914. Nunobiki Waterfall is modeled after an older piece from 1643 called Nobles Viewing the Nunobiki Waterfall by artist Tawayara Sōtatsu, another primary influence on the Rinpa style. Due to this, Ogata's piece is often found with the incorrect title The Poet Narihira Views the Waterfall. For more woodblock reproductions of Ogata's art, The Met has digital copies of the book Kōrin Hyakuzu online at their museum website.  

We hope that you enjoyed this peek at our collection! We'll be back next month with another artifact. Have a great June!