Long Necks- oban

One of several [oban](/glossary/oban)-format variants in Kawano's 'Long Necks' series, this print centers on a female figure whose dramatically elongated neck functions as the primary compositional axis. The exaggerated neck — a formal abstraction rooted in classical Japanese portraiture of courtesans and geisha — is treated as a near-geometric element against a spare, planar field. Kawano carved the key block with the expressive, decisive cuts characteristic of [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) practice, in which the artist controls design, carving, and printing without division of labor. The oban format, roughly 38 by 26 centimeters, provides vertical depth well-suited to the sinuous silhouette. Flat color areas printed from separate blocks define costume or background, likely in a limited palette of two to four hues. The series drew sustained interest from Western collectors during the 1950s and 1960s, who found in it an accessible synthesis of [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga) figural conventions and the modernist reduction of form.