Kaoru Kawano - おしどり (Quiet Couple)(Edition)

A fabulous editioned version print by Kaoru Kawano depicting a pair of mandarin ducks, titled おしどり (Quiet Couple). The two birds sit closely together against the water - the water's shimmer caught in carved relief. Metallic ink is used across the surface, catching the light through the plumage, with accents of blue and gold. A lovely, calm, & beautifully balanced composition. 🦆✨

• Year & Edition: c.1950s-60s. Editioned 32/100. Signed, titled & editioned in pencil.
• Medium: Woodblock.
• Dimensions: (Double Oban). Paper H 42.00 cm × W 57.50 cm. Image H 30.50 cm × W 45.50 cm.
• Condition: A beautiful example given age. Clean, unblemished image with crisp colour and metallic surface. Minor handling to margins only. Pinholes to corners.
• Notes: おしどり (oshidori) refers to mandarin ducks, often depicted as a pair. Original Yoseido Gallery sticker verso along with Kaoru Kawano's "Self-Carved, Self-Printed" tag.

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]