$500–$4,000. Common subjects: $500–$1,500. Key value factors: Kawano's early death at 49 limits her output. Her dreamlike figure prints are most sought after.
A face peers out from the composition, a seashell nearby or incorporated into the image — two objects that share a quality of formal mystery, the face with its hidden interiority and the shell with its concealed, spiraling depth. Kawano often juxtaposed human features with natural objects in ways that suggested symbolic or psychological relationships rather than narrative ones. The shell as a symbol of beauty, hearing (one holds a shell to hear the sea), and feminine elegance finds an unexpected complement in the direct gaze of the face.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Unknown, Face and Shell was created by Kaoru Kawano (川野薫).
Unknown, Face and Shell depicts still life, portraits, and abstract.
