Kaoru Kawano - 森の精 (Forest Spirit)

A fabulous print by Kaoru Kawano - 森の精 (Forest Spirit) showing a tall child figure with eyes closed and black arms crossed in front of her face. Her long etereal pose is printed with vertical woodgrain, giving the figure a tree-like presence within the scene, afore a dark background. Jagged forms rise on either side alike broken outlines of surrounding trees or reflections on water. A striking and memorable design.🌲

• Year & Edition: c.1950s-60s. Open edition. Artist’s red hanko, black seal verso.
  
• Medium: Woodblock.
  
• Dimensions: Paper approx. H 42.25 cm × W 28.50 cm. Image H 37.75 cm × W 23.50 cm.
  
• Condition: Beautiful. Unblemished, paper clean, crisp, & intact.
  
• Notes: 森の精 (mori no sei) translates as “forest spirit.” The title connects the figure with the surrounding environment, here suggested through woodgrain texture and reflected forms.

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]