Cat and Plum Blossoms

This depiction of a quiet, cold, early spring day portrays a cat crouching underneath an old plum tree. The soft spring sun is tempting to the cat but sleep seems to be prevailing. Shunso liked, and often, drew cats. He particularly liked to illustrate black/white spotted cats, and black cats. The realistic cat and the impressive tree trunk are drawn by using an ink diffusion technique. They contrast each other beautifully, suggesting that Shunso, at the time, had sought to integrate the concepts of realism and decoration. He is thought to have perfected this technique in 1910 with his picture – “Black Cat”.