Kaoru Kawano - マリア観音 (Maria Kannon)

A fabulous print by Kaoru Kawano depicting マリア観音 (Maria Kannon) seated with an infant held close. The figures are printed in white against a solid black ground, their form defined by the printed pattern of the woodblock’s natural grain. The robe, head covering, and rounded infant shape are clearly outlined, with Kawano’s red hanko, a lovely little piece. ✝️

• 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 32.75 cm × W 23.00 cm.
  
• Condition: Good. Unblemished. Paper crisp & intact; foxing spotting to margin. 
  
• Notes: マリア観音 (Maria Kannon) is a form of Kannon associated with hidden Christian worship in Japan, where the bodhisattva was depicted in a manner resembling the Virgin Mary.

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]