Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Fifty-five cats appear in this triptych print by the Japanese illustrator Utagawa Kuniyoshi. One of them crawls out of a basket, a few catch rats, others eat fish. They look terrific, but is there a reason behind the illustration? Is it simply a study or is it a scene from a kabuki? Well, it seems the answer is different. All of the cats are distinct and every one of them looks as though they have a personality of their own. The work is called Cats Suggested As The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō and each one represents a station on the road that links Tokyo to Kyoto.
Kuniyoshi's illustration is a fun spoof on Hiroshige's The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (1833–1834). Hiroshige's impressive series was the biggest-selling collection in the history of ukiyo-e and even a decade on, Kuniyoshi's take would have still felt relevant.
The Tōkaidō (Eastern Sea Road) had 53 different post stations along its route that provided stables, food, and lodgings for travelers. Where Hiroshige captured each of these through a series of different landscapes, Kuniyoshi decided to show them through cat puns. For example, the 41st station of the Tōkaidō is called Miya. This name sounds somewhat like the Japanese word oya (親), meaning "parent." For this reason, the station is depicted as two kittens with their mother.
Another example is the 51st station. This stop is called Ishibe and its name sounds similar to the Japanese word miji-me (ミじめ), meaning "miserable." To illustrate this, Kuniyoshi drew the town as a miserable looking cat (bottom-left). Its body looks frail, its hair is coarse, and it yelps out with a wretched purr.
While the fun of these puns is a little lost in translation, one can easily imagine how great they must be for a Japanese-speaker familiar with the Tōkaidō. : ) Even without this knowledge, however, it is an amazing illustration!
This masterpiece is one of the nine chosen by us to celebrate the 9th birthday of DailyArt. Now you can buy it as a fine art print! Its quality is so amazing that you can track every brushstroke made by the artist. We are also using papers and water-based inks of the best quality. You won't find anything like this in a museum shop! It is available in a limited edition of 100 copies. You can check it out here. : ) We are also very curious what you think about our new venture!
P.S. Here are more cats in art history that you will fall in love with. : )