Edutainment > Ito Sozan - 1884-?

Muller Collection
Peacock
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Ito Sozan designed woodblock prints of birds and flowers (kacho-e) for the shin hanga publisher Watanabe Shozaburo from 1919 until 1926. But from 1926 on Koson Ohara designed kacho-e (images of birds and flowers) in large numbers for Watanabe. Was Ito Sozan dumped by the rigid businessman Watanabe?

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Was Ito Sozan Dumped by Watanabe?

Koson Ohara - Biography
Two Macaws
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There is no information why the designs by Ito Sozan for Watanabe stopped in 1926. But a fact is that Koson (Shoson) Ohara began to work for Watanabe in the very same year when the works by Ito Shozan for Watanabe faded out. It is also no secret that Watanabe Shozaburo managed his print publishing company in a rather rigid manner. He had precise ideas what a woodblock print should look like in order to sell well outside Japan (North America, Europe). During the 1920s and early 1930s most shin hanga prints published by Watanabe were exported.

It sounds plausible that Watanabe replaced Ito Sozan by Ohara Koson. But we do not know the reasons. They may have been personal or maybe Watanabe thought that Koson could do a better job. There is no information available and the art world will probably never find out.

Kacho-e by Ito Sozan

Kacho-e by Koson Ohara
Barn Swallows and Willow
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At a first glance the woodblock designs created by Ito Sozan do not look so much different from the works made by Koson. Both artists painted their designs. The style of both artists lies in the tradition of Japanese and Chinese painting. The designs made by Koson look in my view more modern and more Western, while Ito Sozan's designs seem to be kept more in the style of the Meiji period (1869-1912).

Neither Ito Sozan nor Koson Ohara ever carved a block or pulled an impression from the blocks. This was the job of specialized carvers and printers. The artists only made the designs and accompanied the first steps until the first trial prints.

In my judgement both artists created great kacho-e. Any information about the life of both artists is scarce. For Westerners it is hard to understand that not even the year of death is known for a famous artist of the twentieth century. Japanese print collectors encounter this problem frequently. In my view, the reasons are in the low appreciation of the individual in the Japanese and in general in all Asian cultures.

Tips for Collectors

Woodblock prints by Ito Sozan are on an average cheaper compared to those by Ohara Koson. By the way, nearly all prints made by Ito Sozan are in portrait format ("tate-e" in Japanese).

Dieter Wanczura
(June 2009)

Ito Sozan Gallery

Here are a few more examples of woodblock prints by Ito Sozan. They are all taken from our archive of sold Japanese prints and all have a famous provenance: The Estate of the late collector and dealer Robert O. Muller, deceased in 2003.

Shin Hanga
Ducks and Cherry Tree
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Woodblock Print
Blue Bird in Autumn
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Robert O. Muller
Chicken Family
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Japanese Prints
Homing Geese
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