Sleeping Cat
- Date:
- 19th century
- Medium:
- Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper with embossing and sunago
- Format:
- Oban
- Dimensions:
- 23.8 × 24.1 cm
- Source:
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
Description
A sleeping cat rendered with an almost impossible softness, its body a warm comma of fur arranged in the universal feline posture of complete self-abandonment to sleep. The nishiki-e technique is enriched here with embossing and sunago (sprinkled metallic powder), giving the composition a tactile luxury entirely suited to its subject. Kyosai loved animals and returned to cats repeatedly — his sleeping cats are among the most tender images in his work, stripped of the comic or satirical edge that marks so much of what he made.
More Prints by Kawanabe Kyosai
Tenpôzan in Osaka: Viewing Children's Sumo (Naniwa Tenpôzan kodomo sumô shôran), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô
1863
Woodblock print
Kyosai, Royal Academy, London, FREE DOMESTIC SHIPPING
2022
Original Museum Lithographic Exhibition Poster
from the series One Hundred Pictures by Kyôsai (Kyôsai hyakuzu)
Woodblock print
Old Picture of the Rashômon Gate (Rashômon no ko zu), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho tsuzuki
Woodblock print
More Animals Prints
Snake Charmers (Hebizukai)
Hebizukai
1932
Color woodblock print; oban
Hoshifuri Pine at Zen'yoji Temple in Edogawa (Edogawa-ku Zen'yoji Hoshifuri matsu), from the series "One Hundred Views of Great Tokyo in the Showa Era (Showa dai Tokyo fukei hyaku zue hanga)"
1935
Color woodblock print; oban
Drawing for Rabbit and Boy
1964
Acrylic paint and oil pastel with oiled charcoal and ink over an ink and graphite underdrawing on paper
Rabbit and Boy
1964
Color lithograph with relief block and hand coloring; edition 35/36
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sleeping Cat was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎) in 19th century.
Sleeping Cat depicts animals and cats.
Sleeping Cat measures 23.8 × 24.1 cm (Oban format).