Takeuchi Seihō
The model for this painting was a cat owned by the mistress of a neighborhood vegetable shop owner that Takeuchi Seihō encountered while traveling in the city of Numazu. The cat reminded the artist of one painted by the Chinese Song dynasty emperor Huizong, which stimulated Seihō's desire to paint the animal. Exchanging the cat for one of his own paintings, Seihō returned with the cat to Kyoto where he photographed and sketched the cat repeatedly until he set upon the completion of this work. The soft and silky fur is rendered in layered strokes of black ink and ocher, with further hairs added in ink and gofun (oyster shell white), while the eyes were drawn in azurite, malachite, and gold powder. The cat is so realistic it almost appears touchable.
Beautiful, isn't it?
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