Spotlight: Kaoru Kawano, MCM Japanese printmaker

2020-03-30

SPOTLIGHT | Kaoru Kawano | Midcentury Japanese Printmaker Artist

Kaoru Kawano “Doves and Girl” woodblock print.

“Born: 1916; Hokkaido, Japan
Died: 1965
Nationality: Japanese
Art Movement: Shōwa period (1926–1989)
Field: Woodblock printmaking

Kaoru Kawano was born in Hokkaido and studied at the Kawabata Art School beginning in 1934. He had his first prints accepted by the Japan Print Association in 1944. By the 1950s he began to exhibit more frequently in shows around the world. None of his prints, not even his (apparently early) limited edition prints, are dated.” — from Wikiart

Have you heard of Kaoru Kawano? I love his works. They’re elegant and spare woodblock prints, very midcentury, but also very Asian, so basically right up my alley. About 15 years ago I found my first Kawano print in Vancouver at Value Village. It was $5.99, which I considered “high” at the time. I didn’t know what I was doing at all, and my art knowledge was woeful. Sadly, I left that print behind when I moved and I’m 100% sure my ex tossed it. Ugh. Kill me.

Since then, I’ve learned a lot more about art and collecting, and have been lucky enough to find two more Kawano pieces, which currently hang in my house.

My Kawano pieces are Doves and Girl, 1950, and Woodpeckers.

Kaoru Kawano “Woodpeckers” woodblock print.

If you know me at all, it makes total sense that I’d hoard these since Kawano’s common subject are all in-keeping with my overall interests and favourite artistic common subjects (women and children, portraiture, birds and other animals). Mine are in their original mid century frames, and these frames and mats should probably be replaced, but it’s not something I expect I’ll get around to any time soon. Head over to the Will & Bequeath Instagram account if you’d like to see them in-situ.

Kawano’s works are fun to hunt for, and thanks to old-fashioned American racism, a lot of Asian artworks can be found at incredibly low prices at yard and estate sales as this country’s (now-middle-aged) children find themselves charged with cleaning out their parents belongings. Dusty, unloved Kawano prints tend to end up in junk piles, which is where I found both of mine. And like me and my fool ex, even if anti-Asian sentiment isn’t an issue, a lot of folks just don’t know Kawano, and don’t understand printmaking as a legitimate art, so even thrift store employees tend to price these pieces really low. (You may have too look past dirty and broken framing, but don’t let that hold you back!)

Kawano hunters should look for simple woodblock prints, with a distinctive red stamp in lieu of a signature.

Most of Kawano’s works are in a limited colour palette (black, white, maybe a bit of grey), with occasional pops of red, mustard yellow, or (rarely) green. Some pieces have a pencil signature near the bottom, and nearly all should bear the red seal mark lower left. Some Kawano prints are also stamped “Made in Japan” and may have further pencil markings on the reverse. They’re not hard to authenticate, even for a novice.

Another positive? Resale value. Thanks to the (seemingly never-ending) hipsters obsession with all things MCM or mid-century modern, at the time of this writing, a Kawano print should fetch between $125-$300 online. On the far ends, I’ve seen one sold for $50 and another currently at about $790 USD (on 1stdibs.com) but I would say a fair resale price in the current market for the average Kawano find likely falls somewhere around $200 depending on size and condition. So if you keep your eyes peeled and can scoop one for under $10, even if you don’t want it for yourself, that’s a pretty tidy profit, even when you account for shipping.

Kaoru Kawano Girl Reading by Will via Bequeath vintage.

Anyway, that’s it for now. Once you’re able to get out and about again, keep your eyes peeled. My Kawano prints aren’t currently for sale, but I guess always open to it if you’d like to make an offer.

Find more in the Will and Bequeath Spotlight series here.

Psst! While we’ve already been practicing social distancing for few weeks, recently, my area went into a more official shelter-at-home type of lockdown.

It’s fine. I’m lucky. I can weather it. But as the COVID-19 Coronavirus makes its way around the world and more of us find ourselves at home and at a loss, I thought it might be time to get around to reviving my various blogs. After all, having something to read is a pretty key when you’re not allowed to go anywhere!

For about a year now, I’ve been meaning to get around to posting about some of the vintage finds that are either on display in my house, or currently available in my shop. And also about some of the finds I missed out on for one reason or another — a sort of Spotlight Series. See, thrifting is a bit of a skill, and I’ve learned so much about value and provenance over the last twenty odd years (sometimes from my mistakes, sometimes from lucky finds), and I thought it might be nice to pay a little of that knowledge forward. So, here we go! Consider this the inaugural post.

As I work to get products up for sale on my own site, interested buyers should feel free to shop Will and Bequeath on Etsy and Will and Bequeath on Poshmark. These platforms take a large percentage of the sale price, and charge various other feels to sellers as well. In the future, I hope to have all my stock available on my own site, but until then…

Read all the posts in the Will & Bequeath blog tag here.

art Kaoru Kawano Spotlight W&B vintage