Cats of Tokaido by Kuniyoshi Fernand Léger Musée Botanique No

Musée Botanique No

rewarding careful looking at every scale

and crisp edges throughout

Each block carries its own visual weight

and smaller blooms fills the canvas in the characteristic vanitas manner — lavish abundance set against dark shadow

Cats of Tokaido by Kuniyoshi Fernand Léger Musée Botanique NoCats of Tokaido is part of Utagawa Kuniyoshi's celebrated series in which the fifty three stations of the Tokaido road are reimagined with cats in place of human travellers. Kuniyoshi was renowned for his playful anthropomorphism a recurring element across multiple series and this work displays his characteristic combination of technical ukiyo e precision with irreverent visual humour. The cats are rendered with the same compositional care and bold