Hanga
Maneki Neko by Kawada Kan — Japanese Woodblock print

Maneki Neko

by Kawada Kan

Medium:
Woodblock print
Image courtesy of
Robyn Buntin of Honolulu

Description

A second compositional study of the maneki-neko subject within Kawada Kan's print series, this work likely varies the palette or scale relative to the first version while maintaining the same stencil-influenced flatness that characterizes Kawada's approach. The beckoning cat, here rendered through woodblock rather than katazome dye resist, retains the decorative clarity of the textile tradition Kawada absorbed from his teacher Serizawa Keisuke. Repeated treatments of the same motif were common in sosaku-hanga practice as artists explored how color and surface could transform a single compositional idea. The print's likely use of two or more color blocks would reveal Kawada's interest in how adjacent hues activate the washi ground without the volumetric modeling of Western printmaking traditions.

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Curated cross-cuts that include this print.

Frequently Asked Questions

Maneki Neko was created by Kawada Kan (川田幹).

Maneki Neko depicts cats.