The Cat looks back at the flying butterflies with his sapphirine eyes. The butterflies’ wings shine with the same color as the cat’s eyes. Both stand out and resonate with each other in the subtle and profound space. The cat, usually accompanying the peonies, is one of Kayama Matazo’s favorite subjects along with the Rimpa style work, the landscape painting in ink, as well as the nude series free from the established concept of nihonga painting. In the present work, the cat juxtaposes with two butterflies.

Kayama alerted that the bird-and-flower painting is fading into nothing regardless of how the fascinating genre it is. He believed it ought be reexamined, as a genre of contemporary art, from diverse perspectives. It is not a genre relating to still-life, fantasy, or scientific illustrations, but a space filled with vitality. The present work shows an exquisite balance of realism and decorativeness with an illusional atmosphere he aspired after.

Kayama Matazo (nihonga painter; 1927−2004)
Kyoto-born nihonga painter. Graduated from the Kyoto City School of Arts and Crafts and the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. A student of Yamamoto Kyujin. Received awards such as the Nihon geijutsu taisho (Grand Prize for Japanese Fine Arts), the Ministry of Education Award of the Art Encouragement Prizes, and the Japan Association for the Promotion of Arts Award. Appointed Tama Art University and Tokyo University of the Arts professor. Member of Soga-kai. Designated as a Person of Cultural Merit and received the Order of Culture.