Printed to order

The Okazaki Cat Demon by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Utagawa Kuniyoshi, c. 1850

$100.00

Item no. PDKUW001-00

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A ghost story from the Tōkaidō road: Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s Okazaki Cat Demon, on stretched canvas, framed, or on fine art paper.

Format

Stretched canvasfrom $100 Framed canvasfrom $140 Framed printfrom $130 Fine art printfrom $80

Size

Which size fits your wall

Every size keeps the painting's own proportions. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame, so the visible painting is a little smaller.

16 × 12 in 41 × 30 cm

Three-seat sofa, 84 in wide × 34 in tall (213 × 86 cm)

Size	Metric	Where it works
16 × 12 in	41 × 30 cm	Plays well with others: the middle of a gallery wall, a pair side by side, or a hallway on its own.
24 × 18 in	61 × 46 cm	Holds a wall on its own above a dresser, console or sideboard. Above a bed or a sofa, hang two side by side.
28 × 20 in	71 × 51 cm	Holds a wall on its own above a dresser, console or sideboard. Above a bed or a sofa, hang two side by side.
40 × 28 in	102 × 71 cm	A statement piece. Big enough to anchor a living room or dining room wall alone, or to hang above a queen bed or a fireplace.

Rule of thumb: choose art about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it.

16 × 12 in41 × 30 cm 24 × 18 in61 × 46 cm 28 × 20 in71 × 51 cm 40 × 28 in102 × 71 cm

Frame

Black White Natural wood Dark wood

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We write it on a card and tuck it in behind the painting. The price never appears in the box.

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Subtotal $100.00

Printed to order in 1–3 business days
Free US shipping, tracked, 5–12 business days
30-day returns and exchanges
Damage cover included: we remake and reship

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Questions about sizes or framing? Ask us

This print is fine black line, soft greys and rich robe colours, and a dull copy loses the ghostly cat in the background. Our Kuniyoshi Okazaki Cat Demon print was graded beside the Met’s impression so every line stays crisp.

Canvas, framed or paper

Stretched canvas. Printed on cotton canvas and stretched taut over a frame. The edges are mirror-wrapped, so the picture continues around the sides and none of it is lost to the fold.

Framed canvas. The same canvas, set in a black, white, natural wood or dark wood frame 0.83 in deep. The frame gives the work a finished edge and a little more presence on the wall.

Framed print. Printed on fine art matte paper and framed in solid pine, behind shatterproof plexiglass, in black, white, natural wood or dark wood. It arrives ready to hang. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame.

Fine art print. Printed on 310gsm fine art matte paper, for framing your own way. It travels rolled and protected. From 18x24 inch.

Sizes

16x12 inch, 24x18 inch, 28x20 inch, 40x28 inch. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame, so the visible painting is a little smaller.

On your wall

Its wide shape suits a living room, a study or a reading corner, and it is a favourite for cat lovers. The greys and deep robe colours look striking with white, charcoal and dark wood, and a black frame suits it.

About the painting

The Okazaki Cat Demon by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

A ghost story

In Japanese folklore the bakeneko is a cat with supernatural powers. Okazaki, a post station on the Tōkaidō road from Edo to Kyoto, had its own tale of a cat demon, and Utagawa Kuniyoshi made this scene from it around 1850.

The cat behind her

A man sits in rich robes while a lady in white stands before him. Behind them, filling the sky, looms the spectral cat. Kuniyoshi loved cats, and his public loved the ghastly and the bizarre.

Two sheets

It is a diptych, two woodblock prints made to be seen side by side. Our print reproduces the impression in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, there since 1929.

Listen to the story

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Read the story

Look past the people in this picture. Something enormous is looming behind them.

In Japanese folklore there's a creature called the bakeneko: a cat with supernatural powers.

Okazaki was a post station on the Tōkaidō, the great road from Edo to Kyoto, and it had its own ghost story, about a cat demon.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi was a silk-dyer's son from Edo, the city we now call Tokyo. He trained with the great printmaker Toyokuni, then spent years so poor he sold old tatami mats, before a series of tattooed heroes made him famous in 1827.

He loved cats. They overran his studio and fill his prints. And his public loved anything ghastly, exciting or bizarre.

So here, around 1850, he gives them both. A man sits in rich, patterned robes. A lady in white stands before him, calm and pale.

And behind them, filling the sky, rises the spectral cat, drawn in fine grey lines, as if made of smoke.

It's a diptych: two separate woodblock prints, designed to be hung side by side as one picture.

This impression has belonged to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York since 1929.

Find the cat's eyes first. Then look again at the lady.

The Okazaki Cat Demon. Utagawa Kuniyoshi, around 1850.

The artist

Utagawa Kuniyoshi

1798–1861 · Ukiyo-e

Japanese ukiyo-e master of the Utagawa school, a silk-dyer’s son from Edo. His tattooed heroes of the Suikoden made him famous in 1827; he went on to draw ghosts, warriors, cats he adored, and Edo landscapes full of rain, snow and moonlight.

More by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

The original

Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861)
Date: c. 1850
Medium: Woodblock print diptych, ink and colour on paper
Where it hangs today: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (the museum’s page, opens in a new tab)
Originals: A woodblock print, one impression of an edition; ours reproduces the museum’s impression
Original size: 2 sheets, each 36.5 × 25.4 cm

Graded against the original: true to the artist’s colours, brought back to life for your wall.

How each piece is brought to life

Faithful to the original, and made to be felt on your wall.

Graded against the original

We compare every work with the original as we grade it, keeping the artist’s colours true while bringing back their depth and glow. Every mark stays the artist’s own.
Printed for you

Printed to order on cotton canvas or fine art paper, then framed if you chose a frame, in 1 to 3 business days.
On your wall

It arrives 5 to 12 business days later, tracked and free anywhere in the US. Framed pieces come ready to hang.

Questions

Is this the original painting?

No. The original hangs in a museum. What you receive is a fine art reproduction, remastered from the original and printed for you, with every mark where the artist left it.

Will the colour look flat?

This is where most reproductions disappoint, and it is where we spend the most time. Each work is graded side by side with the original: faithful to the artist’s colours, with the depth and warmth brought back, so it moves you on the wall the way it was meant to. Canvas reads a touch softer than a backlit screen, and every screen shows colour a little differently.

Will the edges be cropped?

Each size is a standard frame size, so we fit the painting by trimming a little from its edges. We never stretch or squash it, and we check every size by eye so no face, figure or signature is cut. On canvas the edges are mirror-wrapped, which keeps the whole picture on the front.

Which size is right for my wall?

Aim for about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it. Over a sofa or a sideboard, one of the two largest sizes will hold the wall. The size guide lists every size in inches and centimetres, with the kind of wall each one suits.

How long does it take?

Your piece is printed in 1–3 business days, then spends 5–12 business days in transit, tracked all the way. Delivery is free anywhere in the US. We are unable to deliver to PO boxes.

What if it arrives damaged?

Send us a photograph and we will remake it and send it again. There is nothing to return.

Can I return it?

Yes, within 30 days of delivery. Our returns policy has the details.