Kaoru Kawano - 猫 (Cat)

A fabulous print by Kaoru Kawano - 猫 (Cat) showing two cats tucked together sharing the same warm spot. One is printed in solid black, the other in pale grey with Kawano's signature woodblock grain running through its body. The pair sit against a reddish-brown background marked with short carved lines, giving the scene a cosy, playful feel. 🐈

• Year & Edition: c.1950s-60s. Open edition. Artist’s red hanko, black seal verso.
  
• Medium: Woodblock.
  
• Dimensions: Paper approx. H 28.75 cm × W 42.75 cm. Image H 26.25 cm × W 37.75 cm.
  
• Condition: Good. Clean, unblemished image. Slight foxing to margin.
  
• Notes: 猫 (neko) means “cat.” Kawano produced multiple feline designs during his career.

About the Artist

河野薫 Kaoru Kawano (1916-1965) was a postwar printmaker from Otaru, Hokkaido, known for his charming stylised child figures, northern birds, owls, and the distinctive use of woodgrain in his prints. Trained under Narita Gyokusen and later at the Kawabata Art School in Tokyo, he resumed his career after wartime service and prisoner internment in Siberia, exhibiting with the Japan Print Association (日本版画協会) and Kokugakai (国画会), and receiving the Kokuga Prize in 1955. Through Yoseido Gallery his work was shown widely in international print exhibitions, and both his pencil-signed and seal-stamped editions are increasingly collected today. [ ← View All Works by Kaoru Kawano]