The Most Beautiful Cat Painting in the world

My mom really love this painting. For her, This is the most beautiful cat painting. She wish one day she can paint like this.

Titled: Hana Zakuro or Flowering Pomegranate

This painting was first exhibited at the 11th Teiten in 1930, where it was acquired directly from the painter by the art patron and collector Hosokawa Rikizō. Along with the rest of his painting collection, it entered the Meguro Gajoen Museum Collection after the Pacific War, from which it was acquired by Kagedo in 2003. It is illustrated in the Nittenshi

Born in Shimoina County in Nagano Prefecture, Kamewari Ryüji was first apprenticed to a yūzen dyer for whom he was employed to draw the under-designs. Ambitious to become a Nihonga painter, he moved to Tokyo around the age of 22 to study at the Kawabata Painting School (Kawabata Gagakkō).

On September 1, 1923 the Great Kantö Earthquake leveled Tokyo, forcing his return to Nagano. As life gradually returned to normal in the capital, Ryūji was able to return to Tokyo in 1926 to study under Tsutaya Ryūkö. Ryūji’s painting Kachō no Zu (Birds and Flowers) won 1st Prize in the 4th Nihonga Painting Association Progressive Exhibition (Nihongakai Kakushinten).

In 1926, he first had a painting accepted to a government-sponsored exhibition, the 7th Teiten, and continued to exhibit at six others in subsequent years. After his teacher Ryükō died in 1933, Ryüji began studying with Araki Jippo. In 1936, he exhibited at the Bunten Kansaten, and in 1943 at the 6th Shin-Bunten. 

After the Pacific War, Ryüji showed at a number of Nitten, beginning with the 2nd exhibition in the autumn of 1946. He joined the Kokudokai painting group in 1947, and returned to using his given name as an art signature to prevent confusion with another member. His Nitten painting won the tokusen or grand prize at the 6th Nitten in 1950. In 1954, he was granted mukansa or non-vetted status. Kamewari Ryūji died January 15, 1981 in Nerima Ward, Tokyo. 

Kamewari Ryūji is remembered as an artist who was particularly skilled in richly detailed bird-and-flower paintings. His work is in the collections of the Matsumoto Municipal Museum of Art and the Iida Munici-pal Museum of Art. 

With Flowering Pomegranate, Kamewari Ryüji paints a scene of delicate beauty. The composition arcs up and towards the right with the great, twisting bole of the tree, cut off by the frame of the painting. Atop the branch lies a sleek, black cat, its pale green eyes narrowed on prey beyond our view. Empty space halos the trunk, the void below the branch balanced by the black intensity of the feline and the cloud of blossoms and greenery above.

103 1/8” high x 54 ½” wide, dimensions inclusive of mounting. 90 ½” high x 53 ½” wide, painting dimension.