Still Life With a Cat

Still Life With a Cat, by Fujita Tsuguharu, 1886-1968

I found this work at the Bridgestone Museum of Art in Tokyo, Japan a couple years ago. The smudges in the image above came from when the post card was sent home to the US.

This work really fascinated me for several reasons. 1) It is a Japanese still life. Notice how the objects on the table are different from the usual Western still life collection. Sure you have fruits and veggies but I think there's burdock root and Japanese radish and various sea creatures you don't usually see.

And then the big one: 2) It's a still life with MOVEMENT! There's the cat, and then the little bird flying away from the cat.

What inspired the artist to paint this work? Was he busy working on a still life, but kept getting interrupted by his cat and decided the heck with it he'll just paint the cat in to the work? Or was this meant as satire, a work of irony?

Speaking of variations on the standard Still Life, I was reminded of the Vanitas style. Below is an example. If I recall correctly from my art class, vanitas were a reflection on our mortality and transience. In a sense Still Life With a Cat might be considered a vanitas, with the bird's life in danger and the fleeting moment caught forever in this piece of art?