Unknown, Girl Praying

A young girl stands with her hands pressed together in prayer — a gesture of profound simplicity that Kawano renders without sentiment or condescension. The praying child was a subject with deep resonance in both Buddhist and Christian visual traditions, and Kawano's version participates in both while remaining specifically rooted in Japanese visual culture. The image was among the most accessible of his works for Western collectors, who found in the universal gesture of prayer a bridge between cultures.