Kaoru Kawano - 月 (Moon)(Edition)

A fabulous editioned version by Kaoru Kawano - 月 (Moon) depicting an owl perched beneath a large, moon-like wing form. The owl’s body is printed in yellow with dark markings, while the curved wing is rendered in metallic silver ink that beautifully catches the light. The owl's eyes are set cleanly against the printed pattern of Kawano’s signature woodblock grain. A striking piece. 🦉🦉

• Year & Edition: c.1950s-60s. Editioned 111/200. Signed, titled & editioned in pencil.
  
• Medium: Woodblock.
  
• Dimensions: (Double Oban). Paper approx H 45.50 cm x W 60.25 cm. Image: H 39.50 cm x W 57.00 cm. 
  
• Condition: A beautiful piece. Unmarked, crisp, & clean image. Paper intact, marginal general toning with age.
  
• Notes: 月 (tsuki) means “moon.” Owls appear throughout Kawano’s prints, here printed with lustrious metallic ink which beautifully catches the light.

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]