Photo by Richard P. Goodbody
Here’s a great reason to take a trip to New York City this summer! The Japan Society is running a special exhibit called Life of Cats: Selections from the Hiraki Ukiyo-e Collection through early June and it looks like a spectacular event.
This exhibit features 90 Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints from the Edo Period (1615-1867) along with paintings, sculptures and other works all exploring Japan’s love affair with cats. The ukiyo-e prints in the exhibition are on loan from the esteemed Hiraki Ukiyo-e Foundation and the additional works are borrowed from U.S. collections.
Photo by Richard P. Goodbody
The exhibition is divided into five sections: Cats and People, Cats as People, Cats versus People, Cats Transformed and Cats and Play.
Photo by Richard P. Goodbody
Over 120 pieces of artwork and will be presented in two rotations with about 50 pieces changing between the two rotations. Rotation 1 is on display now through April 26 and rotation 2 will run from April 29 through June 7. If you have a chance to see both rotations it sounds like it will be well worth a return visit.
Photo by Richard P. Goodbody
The Japan Society will be working with the ASPCA in conjunction with the exhibit. They will hold an adoption drive on May 3 as part of Family Day, plus a portion of the sales from the exhibit catalog will be donated to the ASPCA. The catalog is available for purchase form the Japan Society online shop for $20.
Visit the Japan Society website for more details about admission and exhibit hours. I wish I could make it to see this!
Photo by Richard P. Goodbody
Please make sure to watch this wonderful video narrated by Cory Campbell, Officer of Gallery Operations at Japan Society, introducing the exhibit.
Note that you can buy a catalog for $20 on that website.
As a lifelong aficionado of Japanese art and culture, I enjoyed this very much! Thank you for sharing it with us 😉
This looks like a fabulous exhibit. I wish i could make it to NYC to see it, too. But now that I know there’s a catalog, I’ll definitely visit the website and see about purchasing that. Thanks for letting us know about this.
I went to this exhibit, it was really interesting! Artists tried to depict tigers, never having seen one. Over time, the Japanese viewed cats differently so there is art with cats as people, and art with cats as devils. Of course, cats also as human companions. 🙂 That’s the tip of the iceberg really. Friday evenings the Japan Society is open late for the exhibit. BTW, Hauspanther got some great photos, its a good idea of what’s there.