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Washington, United States
loves: you win if you guessed "pets" and "museums". Also books, art history, travel, British punk, Korean kimchi, bindis, martinis, and other things TBD. I will always make it very clear if a post is sponsored in any way. Drop me a line at thepetmuseum AT gmail.com !

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

a cat finds autumn shelter

thanks wikimedia commons {{PD-US}} and {{PD-Art (PD-Old)}}
Somewhere during the Joseon Dynasty around 1730, and probably sometime around the fall, the Korean painter Byeon Sang-byeok captured this "Autumn Cat in a Garden with Chrysanthemum." His portrayals of cats and chickens, it's said, were so particularly fine and popular that he was nicknamed "Byeon Cat" and "Byeon Rooster."  We don't know his precise life dates, but we do know that. And if this thoughtful, alert-whiskered fellow is any indication, we can bet that Byeon liked and understood cats well.

4 comments:

The Lee County Clowder said...

A handsome fellow indeed, and quite comfortable in his garden.

We also wonder a little if this is a curly coated kittie.

Anonymous said...

Dear Curator,
Speaking of Korea: have you heard of "Leafie, A Hen Into The Wild"? Two days ago I came across the Polish translation of this amazing, beautiful book. It hasn't been published in English yet, but it will be, by Penguin Classics (not sure if under the above title). The Polish edition contains the original illustrations from the Korean version of the book - they are just as beautiful and moving as the story itself. The Polish title of the book is "O kurze, ktora opuscila podworze" (I've ommitted Polish diacritic signs). Check it out!
Love,
Your faithful "lurker" Joanna from Szczecin, Poland

The Lee County Clowder said...

Leafie looks interesting. Haven't found the book, but there is an animated movie (available here in sections), and a Wikipedia article about the story.

curator said...

Oh Joanna, now I have something new and wonderful to search for! Thank you!