Dancing Figure - Kaoru Kawano

Artist: Kaoru Kawano (1916–1965)

Title: Dancing Figure (Camellia), also known as Camellia Festival (Tsubaki Matsuri)

Design Date: c. 1950s

Medium: Genuine Japanese color woodblock print

Format: Vertical format

Paper Size: Approximately 16.5 × 11.25 inches

This genuine Japanese color woodblock print is Kaoru Kawano’s Dancing Figure (Camellia), also known as Camellia Festival. The design dates to approximately the 1950s and is a characteristic example of Kawano’s distinctive approach to the postwar Japanese sōsaku-hanga movement. Catalogued impressions identify the subject as a dancing woman in a yellow kimono with a red camellia in her hair.

Dancing Figure (Camellia) depicts an elegantly stylized woman caught in a graceful turning pose. Her brilliant yellow kimono forms a sweeping curve against the deep green-black background, while a partially opened fan appears behind her. A single vivid red camellia accents her elaborate hair. Kawano reduces the woman's face to a few delicate features, allowing the strong silhouette, textured wood grain, and contrasting blocks of color to carry the composition. The result feels distinctly modern while retaining the elegance and restraint of traditional Japanese figure prints.

Inscriptions & Marks:

• Title: Dancing Figure (Camellia)
• Alternate Title: Camellia Festival (Tsubaki Matsuri)
• Artist: Kaoru Kawano (河野薫)
• Artist Seal: Red Kawano seal within the image at lower right
• Watermark: Circular watermark/impressed paper mark visible in the lower margin on verso. 
• Design Date: c. 1950s
• Technique: Color woodblock print
• Printing: Kawano was known for self-carved and self-printed impressions of this design; signed limited-edition examples are documented in editions of 300.

Condition: Very Good. Full margins with light overall toning consistent with age. Colors remain strong, particularly the rich yellow of the kimono, red camellia, and deep green background. The sheet retains attractive deckled edges. Tape marks on top verso. 

About the Artist: Kaoru Kawano (1916–1965) was an important Japanese printmaker associated with the sōsaku-hanga, or “creative print,” movement. Born in Hokkaido, Kawano studied at the Kawabata Art School and developed an immediately recognizable style built around simplified forms, expressive wood grain, bold areas of color, and quiet, introspective figures. Unlike the collaborative system traditionally used for ukiyo-e and much shin-hanga, sōsaku-hanga artists emphasized the artist’s direct involvement in designing, carving, and printing their own works. Kawano became internationally known after World War II, particularly for his images of children, women, birds, and animals.

About the Print: Dancing Figure (Camellia) is an especially strong example of Kawano’s combination of traditional Japanese subject matter with mid-century modern design. The woman's kimono, fan, floral hair ornament, and dance pose recall traditional bijin-ga, yet Kawano treats the figure almost as an abstract arrangement of shapes. The dramatic yellow silhouette against the dark field and the visible texture of the woodblock give the print the graphic simplicity associated with his mature work. Documented lifetime impressions were self-carved and self-printed, with some issued as pencil-signed and numbered editions of 300; posthumous impressions of the design are also known.