The Huffington Post
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By
Katherine Brooks
Before the age of memedom -- before LOLcats and Lil Bub and Grumpy Cat and Henri, le Chat Noir -- there was ukiyo-e.
Typically,
we associate the centuries-old Japanese art form with wood print
masters like Katsushika Hokusai and Hishikawa Moronobu, who rendered
everything from "Great Waves" to Edo-era erotica. But, as a recent
exhibition has graciously pointed out, cats played a surprisingly
prominent role in the work of Japan's illustrators in the 17th century
on. Behold: "
Life of Cats: Selections from the Hiraki Ukiyo-e Collection."
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861), Cats Suggested by the
Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō, 1847. Color woodblock print; each
sheet 14 5/8 x 10 inches. Courtesy Private Collection, New York.
The
upcoming show, on view at the Japan Society Gallery in New York, will
showcase 90 little-known prints that place cats, cats and more cats at
the center of their frames. The survey begins with "The Tale of Genji"
by Lady Murasaki Shikibu, an early 11th century print considered to be
the longest-lasting image of a cat in Japanese literature. From there,
the exhibition moves to the crux of the Edo period -- the 1600s to the
1800s -- to capture the ways in which artists anthropomorphized felines
in domestic and exotic scenes, proving a fascination with the more
devious species of household pets has origins in the
pre(pre-pre-pre)-internet days.
Miwako Tezuka, director of the
Japan Society Gallery, hand-picked the works in "Life of Cats," no doubt
capitalizing on the digital age's preoccupation with watching cats play
keyboards. While on the surface, the show is a cheeky way of
penetrating mainstream audiences, goading the less fanatic of art
admirers into a gallery space with the promise of truly vintage
whiskers, the works give a glimpse into a real art world treasure: the
Hiraki Ukiyo-e Collection, based in Tokyo. We can't fault them for that.
The
exhibition includes five categories: cats and people, cats as people,
cats versus people... you get the gist. (The last two are "Cats
Transformed" and "Cats and Play.") A press release for the show boasts a
historical perspective on the ways in which our Japanese ancestors
interacted with cats on a daily basis, either mimicking their ways in
kabuki theater or channeling cat-related activities into their erotic
fantasies. Some visions are more mundane, with cats lounging, provoking
play time, gazing out windows. Life as seen through Ukiyo-e is, maybe,
not so removed from today.
" Life of Cats: Selections from the
Hiraki Ukiyo-e Collection" will be on view at Japan Society Gallery
from Friday, March 13 to Sunday, June 7, 2015.
Utagawa Kunisada II (1823–1880), Kashiwagi
from the series The False Murasaki's Rustic Genji, 1848–54. Color
woodblock print; 22 3/8 x 36 7/8 inches. Courtesy Hiraki Ukiyo-e
Foundation.
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), Asakusa
Ricefields and Torinomachi Festival from the series One Hundred Famous
Views of Edo, 1857. Color woodblock print; 22 ½ x 16 inches. Courtesy
Hiraki Ukiyo-e Foundation.
Utagawa Yoshiiku (1833–1904), The Story of
Otomi and Yosaburō, 1860. Color woodblock print; 22 ½ x 16 inches.
Courtesy Hiraki Ukiyo-e Foundation.
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839–1892), The
Enlightenment of Daruma from an untitled series known as Sketches by
Yoshitoshi, 1882. Color woodblock print; 22 ½ x 16 inches. Courtesy
Hiraki Ukiyo-e Foundation.
Utagawa Kunisada (1786–1864), Cat and Beauty
from the series Beauties in New Styles Dyed to Order, 1818–30. Color
woodblock print; 36 7/8 x 22 3/8 inches. Courtesy Hiraki Ukiyo-e
Foundation.
Utagawa Kunimaro (active ca. 1850-75), A
Brief History of the Buddha Dainichi Disguised as Otake, 1849. Color
woodblock print; 22 ½ x 16 inches. Courtesy Hiraki Ukiyo-e Foundation.
Utagawa Yoshifuji (1828–1887), Popular
Hotspring Spa [of Cats], 1880. Color woodblock print; 22 ½ x 16 inches.
Courtesy Hiraki Ukiyo-e Foundation.
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839–1892), Looking
Tiresome: The Appearance of a Virgin of the Kansei Era from the series
Thirty-two Aspects of Customs and Manners, 1888. Color woodblock print;
22 ½ x 16 inches. Courtesy Hiraki Ukiyo-e Foundation.
Utagawa Kunisada II (1823–1880), No. 36,
Kashiwagi from the series Lady Murasaki's Genji Cards, 1857. Color
woodblock print; 22 ½ x 16 inches. Courtesy Hiraki Ukiyo-e Foundation.
Utagawa Kunisada (1786–1864), The Actor Onoe
Kikugorō III as Kayanoya Kanpei, 1833. Color woodblock print; 22 ½ x 16
inches. Courtesy Hiraki Ukiyo-e Foundation.
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839–1892), Sixth
Month: Fukusuke of Shinbashi with Morning Glories at Iriya from the
series of Pride of Tokyo’s Twelve Months, 1880. Color woodblock print;
22 ½ x 16 inches. Courtesy Hiraki Ukiyo-e Foundation.
Utagawa Yoshifuji (1828 – 1887), Newly
Published Applications for Cats, ca. 1868–1912. Color woodblock print;
22 ½ x 16 inches. Courtesy of Hiraki Ukiyo-e Foundation.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861),
Chrysanthemums from the series Eight Selected Flowers from the Garden,
1844–48. Color woodblock print, 16 x 22 ½ inches. Courtesy Hiraki
Ukiyo-e Foundation.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861), Parody of
Umegae Striking the Bell of Limitless [Hell] from the series Fashionable
Cat Games, 1848–54. Color woodblock print; 22 ½ x 16 inches. Courtesy
Hiraki Ukiyo-e Foundation.
Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III; 1786–1865),
Beloved Concubine Kochō, Her Maid Okoma, and Narushima Tairyō, 1853.
Color woodblock print; 22 3/8 x 36 7/8 inches. Courtesy Hiraki Ukiyo-e
Foundation.
Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831–1889), A True Picture
of the Fierce Live Tiger Never Seen from the Past to the Present, 1860.
Color woodblock print; 14 x 9 ¾ inches. Courtesy Ronin Gallery, New
York.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861), Cats
Suggested by the Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō, 1847. Color
woodblock print; each sheet 14 5/8 x 10 inches. Courtesy Private
Collection, New York.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861), Cats
Suggested by the Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō, 1847. Color
woodblock print; each sheet 14 5/8 x 10 inches. Courtesy Private
Collection, New York.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861), Cats
Suggested by the Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō, 1847. Color
woodblock print; each sheet 14 5/8 x 10 inches. Courtesy Private
Collection, New York.
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