Gekko Ogata (1859-1920) – Irises at Horikiri

Original woodblock print. The first edition of this design was published in 1896. The current print was printed in the late 19th century, or early 20th century.

One of the specialties of Ogata Gekko was the depiction of people enjoying flowers. In the current design, he shows the Iris Garden at Horikiri, with visitors strolling through it.

Further away, a number of visitors can be seen around the garden. The women on the right must have visited the garden already, as evidenced by the plucked irises next to them. Their plucked flowers and closed umbrellas resonate with the open flowers and umbrellas down in the garden. The attention of the visitors is still drawn to the garden, with some pointing or turning their heads, possibly because of an egret that has just taken flight, unifying the composition.

Series: Famous Views of Flowers and Beautiful Women

Image size (excluding margins): 35.2 * 70.2 cm (13.9 * 27.6 in).

The print is in very good state, with some signs of aging. Two of the prints are attached, with possibly minor loss of image. The prints are backed, and on the back there is a small note in pencil.

The pictures shown here are from the print itself.

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Gekko Ogata (1859 – 1920) was a self-taught Japanese painter and woodblock artist. He was a prolific artist with a strong work ethic and produced many paintings, woodblock prints, and illustrations for various media. In later years, attention to his works was less than for artists such as Tsukioka Yoshitoshi or Yoshu Chikanobu, but in recent years there has been renewed interest. For an in-depth overview of his life and work, there is an excellent resource in Amy Reigle Newland’s “Printed and Painted. The Meiji Art of Ogata Gekko (1859-1920)”.

His works feature traditional ukiyo-e themes, such as flowers and beautiful women. These prints are typically relatively affordable. Another, more expensive genre, is that of Japanese legends, heroes, and history. For both these genres, we have many woodblock prints on offer, and we hope to add more in the future of his landscape prints and those of other genres.

See an overview of Gekko Ogata's woodblock prints