Spirit of Cat Rock 1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle

A Fitzwilliam Museum Publication

Author: Utagawa Kunisada Series: A Fitzwilliam Museum Puzzle

Spirit of Cat Rock 1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle

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PRODUCT INFORMATION

Description

Utagawa Kunisada, Spirit of the Cat Rock at Okazaki, 1835 (detail)

This fantastical image is taken from Utagawa Kunisada's woodblock series Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô Highway. Inspired by Utagawa Hiroshige's series of the same name from just a few years earlier, Kunisada's prints depict costumed actors at different views along the road leading from Edo to Toyko. The Spirit of the Cat Rock triptych refers to the legend of a giant cat-spirit that haunted the road at Okazaki. This beautiful and satisfying puzzle incorporates two of the original triptych panels.

From the renowned Japanese art collection held by the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, UK.

Full Color Puzzle Completed Size: 27 in x 19 in

About the Author

Utagawa Kunisada I (1786-1865) was, in his own time, by far the most popular and successful ukiyo-e print designer in Japan, eclipsing his contemporaries Hokusai, Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi. He was a prolific artist with enormous talent and energy and published tens of thousands of individual designs. His most popular subject was kabuki actors, but he also excelled at pictures of beautiful women (bijin-ga). In 1820s Kunisada joined author Ryutei Tanehiko (1783-1842) to work on illustrating a series of books based on the classical novel 'The Tale of Genji', the reinterpreted story having been relocated from the old capital of Kyoto to the new audience in Edo. The work started a new ukiyo-e genre, genji-e, and proved an overnight success, becoming the first Japanese publication to sell over 10,000 copies, a record which stood for many years. Kunisada gave his audience an escape from the restrictions of their ordinary lives and his designs, with their optimism and energy, still have the capacity today to attract and entertain.