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

Shape - Flowers, fruits and birds each come in a variety of shapes. Some shapes are more unusual than others and it is these unusual shapes that are most likely to be eye-catching. Pictures 24-28 provide some examples of flowers or fruits with unusual shapes. For birds, it is the unusual bills, wings or tails that make them stand out. Pictures 29 to 34 show birds with these eye-catching features. Artists sometimes modified naturally-occurring shapes to make them even more unusual. In pictures 35 to 41 body proportions were exaggerated for added effect while in pictures 42 to 45 shapes were distorted to create novel and often entertaining forms. Shapes in pictures 46 to 48 were only partly completed by the artist. Viewers are allowed to complete these suggestive shapes in their own unique ways. Other artists changed the shape of the picture itself from the usual, boring rectangle to more interesting shapes including the octagon, ellipse and circle as shown in pictures 49 to 53. 

24   Unusual flower shape - fan columbine (Aquilegia flabellata) and masked laughingthrush (Garrulax perspicillatus) by Gyōsui, 125 x 245 mm, woodblock

25   Unusual flower shape - egret orchid (Habenaria radiata) and barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) by Gyōsui, 125 x 245 mm, woodblock

26   Unusual flower shape - Hydrangea (Hydrangea scandens) and great tit (Parus major) by Gyōsui, 125 x 245 mm, woodblock

27   Unusual fruit shape - pomegranate (Punica granatum) and Eurasian siskin (Carduelis spinus) by Shizuo Ashikaga, 270 x 400 mm, woodblock

28   Unusual fruit shape - Japanese chestnut (Castanea crenata) and goldcrest (Regulus regulus) by Shizuo Ashikaga, 270 x 400 mm, woodblock

29   Unusual bird shape - sasanqua camellia (Camellia sasanqua) and mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) by Rakusan Tsuchiya, 475 x 340 mm, woodblock

30   Unusual bird shape -  Japanese mountain cherry (Prunus serrulata) and green peafowl (Pavo muticus) by Koson Ohara, 190 x 350 mm, woodblock

31   Unusual bird shape - Japanese mountain cherry (Prunus serrulata) and green pheasant (Phasianus versicolor) by Koson Ohara, 185 x 345 mm, woodblock

32   Unusual bird shape - tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa) and straw-tailed whydah (Vidua fischeri) by Rakusan Tsuchiya, 480 x 340 mm, woodblock

33   Unusual bird shape - least water-lily (Nuphar pumilum) and common snipe (Gallinago gallinago) by Rakusan Tsuchiya, 475 x 340 mm, woodblock

34   Unusual bird shape – fuchsia (Fuchsia magellanica) and rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) by Tōshi Yoshida, 300 x495 mm, woodblock

35   Exaggerated body proportions - Cotton-rose (Hibiscus mutabilis) and common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) by Rakusan Tsuchiya, 360 x 230 mm, woodblock

36   Exaggerated body proportions -  peach (Prunus persica) and barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) by Hiroshige Utagawa, 165 x 375 mm, woodblock

37   Exaggerated body proportions - camellia (Camellia japonica) and Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus) by Hiroshige Utagawa, 175 x 385 mm, woodblock

38   Exaggerated flower petals -  kobus magnolia (Magnolia kobus) and canary (Serinus canaria) by Sūgakudō Nakayama, 220 x 335 mm, woodblock

39   Exaggerated flower petals - fan columbine (Aquilegia flabellata) and Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) by Sūgakudō Nakayama, 220 x 335 mm, woodblock

40   Exaggerated body proportions - kobus magnolia (Magnolia kobus) and Java sparrow (Padda oryzivora) by Hokusai Katsushika, 230 x355 mm, woodblock

41   Exaggerated body proportions - four-o’clock (Mirabilis jalapa) and Japanese grosbeak (Eophona personata) by Hokusai Katsushika, 210 x 320, woodblock

42   Distorted shape - Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) and Indian peafowl (Pavo  cristatus) by Yoshiharu Kimura, 450 x 300 mm, woodblock

43   Distorted shapes - plum (Prunus mume) and perhaps the Japanese bush-warbler (Cettia diphone) by Umetarō Azechi, 120 x 110 mm, woodblock

44   Distorted shapes - plum (Prunus mume) and an unidentified songbird by Umetarō Azechi, 120 x 110 mm, woodblock

45   Distorted shapes  – unidentified flower and bird by Motoi Ōi, 450 x 600 mm, embossed screenprint

46   Suggested shapes - Rice (Oryza sativa) and common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) by Seitei Watanabe, 245 x 180 mm, woodblock

47   Suggested shapes - pomegranate (Punica granatum) and white-cheeked starling (Sturnus cineraceus) by Suiun Komuro, 310 x 310 mm, woodblock

48   Suggested shapes - heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) and Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus) by Kōyō Nakagawa, 240 x 345 mm, woodblock

49   Unusual picture shape  – camellia (Camellia japonica) and scarlet macaw (Ara macao) by Kakunen Tsuruoka, 275 x 470 mm, woodblock

50   Unusual picture shape - sasanqua camellia (Camellia sasanqua) and varied tit (Sittiparus varius) by Eiichi Kotozuka, 230 x 310 mm, woodblock

51   Unusual picture shape - Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) and Ural owl (Strix uralensis) by Kiyoharu Yamada, 260 x 370 mm, woodblock

52   Unusual picture shape – dandelion (Taraxacum sp.), Chinese milk-vetch (Astragalus sinicus) and Japanese waxwing (Bombycilla japonica) by Kyōzō Yamada, 415 x 295 mm, woodblock

53   Unusual picture shape - China rose (Rosa chinensis) and yellow-breasted magpie (Cissa hypoleuca) by Sadahide Utagawa, 305 x 195 mm, woodblock

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