Kaoru Kawano - 十字 (Cross)

Name: Kaoru Kawano - 十字 (Cross)
Brand: Kumo Arts
Price: 200.00 GBP
Availability: InStock

£200.00

Modern | Sōsaku Hanga Woodblock Print

A fabulous print by Kaoru Kawano - 十字 (Cross) depicting a Madonna and Child standing before a cross. The Madonna’s bowed head and closed eyes lend the scene a quiet, devotional tone, while the child rests against her chest. Both figures are printed in warm ochre and grey with clear woodgrain relief, set against dark background. A restrained and powerful image. ✝️

Year & Edition: c.1950s-60s. Open edition. Artist’s red hanko, black seal verso.
Medium: Woodblock.
Dimensions: Paper approx. H 42.75 cm × W 28.50 cm. Image H 37.75 cm × W 25.50 cm.
Condition: Beautiful condition. Unblemished, clean & intact.
Notes: 十字 (jūji) means “cross” in Japanese. A particularly beautiful piece & example of Kawano's most delicate inking, capturing the beautiful grain of the block.

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]