STAMP COLOR WOODBLOCK PRINT OF CRANE, IN ORIGINAL. HARDWOOD, THIN-PROFILE FRAME, W/UNBROKEN. ORIGINAL BROWN PAPER DUST COVER. Japanese Modernist woodblock prints (Showa period). Sta mped on the bottom-right of the face of the print with an original red ink artist’s stamp. It’s also stamped with a black ink gallery stamp on the back brown paper dust cover. The Little Gallery,’ 105 Chestnut Street, Springfield, Massachusetts. 23 ½” Height x 14” Width (Frame). 15 ½” Height x 10 Width (Image). It’s medium-format in size, being nearly 24 inches in height and 14 inches in width. It’s still in its period, vintage hand rubbed, oiled, thin-profile hardwood frame and is under sage green, miter-cut mat board, with its original brown paper back dust cover still intact and unbroken. Pictured is a Minimalist, head and upper torso, side profile of a crane (aquatic bird or saltwater waterfowl) offering only the’essential’ pictorial information needed to describe the fauna. This conceptually reduced artistic treatment of the subject is in keeping with Japanese Modernist art and in particular, color woodblock prints from Japan’s Showa period. It’s spare and economic in its approach and design and uses only reduced, basic geometric shapes and a very limited color palette to describe them. Very, very beautiful in a very, very Minimalist, Japanese way. Gorgeous and completely original. Outstanding and very, very quiet like the very crane it depicts. BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE ARTIST. Kaoro Kawano was born in Hokkaido, Japan and studied at the Kawabata Art School beginning in 1934. He was a participant and practitioner during Japan’s’Showa’ period. He had his first color woodblock prints accepted by the Japan Print Association in 1944. By the 1950’s he began to exhibit more frequently in shows around the world. None of his prints, not even his (apparently early) limited edition prints however, are dated. His reputation became international, with successful solo exhibitions in North America and elsewhere. Kawano’s prints frequently depict children and animals, combining Western style elements with the old tradition of woodblock printmaking. Kawano’s works are also appreciated for the way in which they incorporate the grain patterns of the woodblock into the design. Excellent, pristine, nearly immaculate over a ll vint a ge condition. Without blemishes, tears, paper loss, water stains, foxing, tanning or other surface conditions or damage. It’s in its original, thin-profile hardwood frame, is matted and under glass. In really exceptionally well-preserved overall vintage condition. A gorgeous period Japanese Modernist color woodblock print. The item “KAORU KAWANO (JAPAN 1916-1965) MODERNIST SIGNED COLOR WOODBLOCK OF CRANE, FRAMED” is in sale since Tuesday, March 26, 2019. This item is in the category “Art\Art Prints”. The seller is “modsanctuary” and is located in Milford, New Hampshire. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Size: Medium (up to 36in.)
- Artist: Kaoru Kawano (Japan)
- Style: Asian (Japanese color woodblock print)
- Listed By: Dealer or Reseller
- Printing Technique: Woodblock Printing
- Quantity Type: Single-Piece Work
- Medium: Woodcut & Block
- Date of Creation: Circa 1950
- Original/Reproduction: Vintage original
- Mid-20th century: Vintage
- Year: Circa 1950
- Features: Framed
- Japan: Showa period
- Modernist: Post WWII Modernist Japanese printmaking
- Width (Inches): 14” Width
- Color: Multi-Color
- Subject: Crane waterfowl (fauna)
- Originality: Original
- Height (Inches): 23 ½” Height
- Print Surface: Paper