Morikazu Kumagai

Exhibited by Shibunkaku

Material Oil on board, framed

Dimensions 24 × 33 cm

Place of Creation Japan

Price Available upon inquiry

Status Vetted

About the Work

Kumagai Morikazu’s Kitten was exhibited in August 1959 at the fifth Sankokai exhibition at Matsuzakaya in Ginza, Tokyo. The work depicts a small white kitten pausing in front of blooming hydrangea flowers, its lowered front legs suggesting hesitation or curiosity. The three blossoms appear to watch over the kitten, whose pure innocence is emphasized by its white form. Morikazu often kept both stray and domestic cats at home, and this familiarity informed his repeated studies of felines.

Kumagai Morikazu (painter; 1880–1977)

Painter from Gifu Prefecture. Kumagai graduated from the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, and soon became active in the Bunten exhibitions. In 1913, he returned for two years to Gifu, working in forestry while continuing to paint. After his return to Tokyo, he joined the Nikakai art association. After the war, Kumagai became a member of Nikikai art association, during this period also greatly reducing his color palette and formal vocabulary. He also produced ink painting and calligraphy. Kumagai famously declined the Order of Culture in 1968 and various other awards and late in life garnered a reputation as a “solitary sage of the art world.”

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