Kaoru Kawano, Girl and Four Cranes, Sosaku-hanga

Sosaku-hanga (creative prints) was an art movement in early 20th-century Japan. It stressed the artist as the sole creator motivated by a desire for self-expression, and advocated principles of art that is self-drawn, self-carved and self-printed. The movement gained popularity following World War II, earning international acclaim and expanding subject matter to include abstraction.

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. Using a mix of the old tradition of Japanese color woodblocks, as well as the Western approach, he creates a simplified, yet impressive, interpretation of his subjects. Kaoru Kawano mostly focused his art work on the subject of children and animals, although he has done some landscapes as well.