CAT AND MOUSE by Kyosai Kawanabe)

CAT AND MOUSE (c.1870, by Kyosai Kawanabe). A humorous print by showing a cat holding aloft a rat by its tail with a sliver of moon just above them. Printed only in sumi and light brown. This print is considered quite rare and was published by Wawamuraya Seikichi in Tokyo. Kyosai Kawanabe (1831 - 1889), an extremely skillful artist who worked as a painter, print maker and illustrator, was born as the son of a samurai, and as a child, joined the school of Kuniyoshi Utagawa. During his career he was most noted for his prints with humorous and caricature-like subjects, although I have seen some very sensitive and skillful landscapes of his that I enjoyed very much. He is nicknamed the "comic genius"; some of his humor perhaps stemming from his strong liking for saké. He was also one of Japan’s first political caricaturists. His ability to perfectly portray attitudes through the posture and movements of the figures in his prints gained him a reputation for being one of the most individualistic artists of the Meiji period.