Nishida Tadashige – Innocence 2 – Pale Blue Cat

Original woodblock print, hand-signed and numbered 43/150 by the artist. First published in 2013.

The closest English translation of the kanji above the cat is “innocence”. The meaning is slightly different, however, as it refers to a childlike carefree and happy innocence. The separate kanji characters refer to the universe and being right, so it might be taken to mean that it refers to being in line with how the universe intended things to be, and to radiating brightness. All in all, it is easy to see how this applies to the cat, who is natural, unspoiled, and is exactly the way he is intended to be.

Image size (excluding margins): 40.0 * 25.5 cm (15.7 * 10.0 in).

The print is in excellent condition.

The pictures shown here are from the print itself.

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Nishida Tadashige (b. 1942) is a famous Japanese woodblock print artist. His cat prints is what he is best known for, of which you can find many below. These are all high quality woodblock prints, hand-signed by the artist in limited editions. Though subjective, the cat prints are often considered remarkable in the way they succeed in conveying the different moods and characters of the cats shown.

See an overview of Nishida Tadashige's woodblock prints