Cats in Ukiyo-e

de Nobuhisa Kaneko

This book is a collection of Kuniyoshi’s works that featured cats. It will attract ukiyo-e lovers, cat lovers, and also provides valuable inspiration to designers or illustrators. Kuniyoshi Utagawa (1797-1861) was one of the great masters of the Japanese ukiyo-e style of woodblock prints and painting. Born in 1797 to a silk-dyer, he helped his father's business as a pattern designer. His drawing talent from an early age attracted the attention of the famous print master Toyokuni Utagawa, and Kuniyoshi became one of his apprentices in 1811. The range of Kuniyoshi's preferred subjects included many genres: landscapes, beautiful women, Kabuki actors, mythical animals, and cats. More than any other Japanese artist, Kuniyoshi depicted cats humorously and satirically, with great accuracy and careful observation. Nobuhisa Kaneko a curatorial staff of the Fuchu Art Museum, Tokyo. He was born in 1962 in Tokyo and specializes in the history of Edo period (1600-1868) painting. He is the author of Tabi suru Edo kaiga: Rimpa kara dohanga made ( Travelling Edo painting: from Rinpa school to copperplate; PIE Books, 2010) and a co-author of Bessatsu Taiyo Edo Kaiga Nyumon (An Introduction to Edo Painting; Heibonsha, 2007. He has been actively conducting research, curating exhibitions, and writing in his endeavors to bridge the gap between the art of the past and people of today.