Maneki Neko

The fourth variant in Kawada Kan's maneki-neko series, this woodblock print completes a group of works in which the artist systematically reexamined a single folk subject across multiple compositions. By this stage in the series, Kawada's handling of the beckoning cat motif would reflect deliberate formal choices — shifts in the cat's orientation, surrounding negative space, or the number and sequence of color applications — rather than repetition. The print demonstrates the sosaku-hanga commitment to the artist's complete authorship of each impression, from block carving through hand printing on washi. Kawada's background in Serizawa's textile-dyeing methods lends even this woodblock work a textile-like surface quality, with color remaining local and pattern-oriented rather than illusionistic.