(Kannon Goddess)

"(Kannon Goddess)" — the hand-colored woodblock print from the 1950s — captures Munakata's most central sacred subject in a version where color is applied after printing to enhance and individualize the image. Hand-coloring was a traditional Japanese printmaking practice, and Munakata used it selectively to create variants of his black-and-white prints with added warmth and complexity. The Kannon Goddess in this colored version would carry additional layers of meaning through the color choices: the compassionate deity's robes, the sacred halo, the gesture of the hand — all given chromatic emphasis.