Black Cat by Min Zhen - 18th century - 78.5 x 38.5 cm Princeton University Art Museum Black Cat by Min Zhen - 18th century - 78.5 x 38.5 cm Princeton University Art Museum

Black Cat

Hanging scroll; ink on paper • 78.5 x 38.5 cm
  • Min Zhen - 1730 - ? Min Zhen 18th century

It was very difficult to find any info about today's piece but when I saw it for the first time I just couldn't resist. This fat black cat with a disarming smile and chunky paws just stole my heart. And he looks a bit like my cat, Pimpek.

Min Zhen was a Chinese painter and seal carver born in Nanchang, Jiangxi, who spent most of his life in Hubei. He was noted for painting human figures and doing occasional finger painting. He was orphaned at an early age and is sometimes associated with the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, which is the name for a group of eight Chinese painters active in the 18th century who were known in the Qing Dynasty for rejecting the orthodox ideas about painting in favor of a style deemed expressive and individualist.

This cat is very individualistic!

See you tomorrow. :)

P.S. There are many artists who can be called cat-lovers but only one can be called master of cats - Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita!