Reader Collection > Exhibitions > EYE-CATCHERS  100 Japanese flower-bird prints

Action - Action attracts our attention whether we witness it live or in a picture. Some Japanese flower-bird pictures are eye-catching because the artist either shows the flower and bird subjects in action or suggests that action is imminent.

It is relatively easy for the artist to show birds in action because they move about under their own power. Bird flight is communicated to viewers by simply showing the bird with its wings outstretched. Two particularly eye-catching birds in flight are shown in pictures 72 and 73. Unlike birds, flowers require the help of wind or the force of gravity to move. In pictures 74 and 75 the artist cleverly depicts this movement to energize the flowers.

Imminent action can be suggested by placing a bird or a flower in an unstable position. Pictures 76 and 77 provide two eye-catching examples. Another way to suggest imminent action is to arrange objects diagonally rather than horizontally or vertically. We associate the diagonal with leaning and the action of falling is sure to follow. The diagonal arrangement of flowers and birds is very obvious in pictures 78 and 79.

Another form of action is interaction between individuals of the same species or between different species. To suggest this interaction to the viewer artists often include more than just one individual in a picture. Interacting birds are featured in pictures 80 and 81 while interacting plants are shown in picture 82.    

72   Flying bird - lespedeza (Lespedeza sp.) and lesser cuckoo (Cuculus poliocephalus) by Koson Ohara, 165 x 375 mm, woodblock

73   Flying bird - Japanese mountain cherry (Prunus serrulata) and scops owl (Otus sp.) by Koson Ohara, 240 x 360 mm, woodblock

74   Moving flowers - Japanese mountain cherry (Prunus serrulata) and black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) by Sōzan Itō, 165 x 380 mm, woodblock

75   Falling flower petals - cherry (Prunus sp.) and Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus) by Zeshin Shibata, 225 x 160 mm, woodblock

76   Unstable position - purple magnolia (Magnolia liliiflora) and Java sparrow (Padda oryzivora) by Hiroshige Utagawa, 130 x 380 mm, woodblock

77   Unstable position - camellia (Camellia japonica) and great tit (Parus major) by Hiroshige Utagawa, 130 x 380 mm, woodblock

78   Leaning - Japanese bindweed (Calystegia japonica) and Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus) by Gyokushō Kawabata, 235 x 230 mm, woodblock

79   Diagonal  - snake gourd (Trichosanthes cucumeroides) and Japanese white-eye (Zosterops japonicus) by Hiroshige Utagawa, 130 x 255 mm, woodblock

80   Interacting birds - lespedeza (Lespedeza sp.) and great tit (Parus major) by Rakusan Tsuchiya, 480 x 340 mm, woodblock

81   Interacting birds - Sunflower (Helianthus annuus), morning-star lily (Lilium concolor), mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata), hardy begonia (Begonia grandis), aster (Aster sp.), scops owl (Otus sp.), Eurasian bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula), canary (Serinus canaria) and Japanese bush-warbler (Cettia diphone) by Rinsai Shiba, 340 x 220 mm, woodblock

82   Interacting plants – Japanese morning glory (Ipomoea nil), eulalia grass (Miscanthus sinensis), scabrous gentian (Gentiana scabra) and Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) by Gyōsan, 225 x 350 mm, woodblock

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