Animals
"Cat Monster"
By Kawanabe Kyōsai (late-19th century)
The artwork by Kawanabe Kyōsai and Shinya Tamai continue the theme of cats and rabbits from this week’s posted poem by Wallace Stevens, “A Rabbit as King of the Ghosts.”
There is a centuries-long tradition of depicting cats in East Asian art. In Japanese art, cats appear either exhibiting their natural behavior or to convey social commentary or, as in the featured 19th-century artwork, as Bakeneko, a supernatural, spectral, or monster cat of various legends.
Artist Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1899) was born in Koga, Japan, to a samurai father. Young Kyōsai studied the ukiyo-e method of woodblock printing and painting briefly under a leading master of the art, Utagawa Juniyosh, then learned the Kano Painting School style from Maemura Towa. At the age of 23, in 1854, Kyōsai became an independent artist and developed the Kyoga (“crazy pictures”) genre. Often considered the first political caricaturist in Japan, his art provoked several arrests during the upheaval following the Meiji Restoration of 1868. He has been credited with producing the first Manga (graphic comic) magazine in Japan. Nature and folklore were common sources of inspiration for his art, as was the Japanese alcohol sake; he often signed his work Shōjō (“Drunken”) Kyōsai.
"Good Night"
By Shinya Tamai (mineral pigment on Japanese paper, 2017)
Contemporary Japanese artist Shinya Tamai was born in Hiroshima in 1994. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Japanese painting (2016, 2018) from Aichi University of the Arts in Nagoya. His first solo show was at Gallery Seek in Tokyo in 2016 and the next year he was part of a group “Cat Painting Exhibition” in Aichi. He is currently a part-time lecturer at the Aichi Prefectural University of the Arts and is associated with the Nihon Bijyutsuin (Japanese Art Institute), which is dedicated to the traditional Nihonga style of ink or mineral pigment brush paintings on Japanese paper or silk.
"He Hath Tried Me"
by Zachary Proctor, (oil on canvas, 40” x 34”, 2019)
In his paintings, Zachary Proctor aims “to arrest motion on canvas … to capture life and hold it fixed.” His artwork often depicts dramatic moments in sports, the military, and history, presents laborers at work, or juxtaposes disparate images in symbolic paintings. He earned a BFA from the University of Utah and MFA from Utah State University. His artwork can be seen at several galleries in the American West.
"If Found Please Call II"
by Dana Hawk, (oil on panel, 20” x 20”, 2019)
Dana Hawk specializes in beautiful and creative animal paintings, but is equally adept at human figures and portraits, often incorporating symbolism into her artwork. She earned a BS in Cell and Molecular Biology at Missouri State University and an MS in Physical Therapy at the University of Colorado. She later became a professional artist, sharpening her skills at workshops taught by Stephen Bauman, Adam Miller, Koo Schadler, and other notable painters.
The featured painting, If Found Please Call II, is based on California wildfires during which horse owners who did not have time to transport their horses to safety, spray-painted their phone numbers on the animals before releasing them to flee instinctively from the danger.
"To Everything There Is a Season"
by Koo Schadler (egg tempera)
After earning a degree in Art History from Tufts University, Koo Schadler lived in Florence, Italy, for several years to experience Renaissance art firsthand. She later studied the meticulous art medium of egg tempera in California before settling in New Hampshire. She is honored with Master Painter status by The Copley Society of Boston.
Schadler’s works are often small-scale portraits of children or animals, frequently incorporating quotations and symbolic items. This exquisite bird painting has a quotation from the biblical book of Ecclesiastes.