kitten playtime

wikiart.org. (PD)

This gentle, playful scene is an example of shin-hanga, an art movement of early 20th-century Japan in which traditional printmaking was bent to subjects that reflected an artist's individual view and mood.  This one, "Cats with Ball," is by Shotei Takahashi (1871-1945), who produced work designed to appeal to Western audiences.  I wonder if he meant to sneak in the yin/yang reference, or if he just thought white and black were delicious against that soft periwinkle field (which it is).