Artwork
猫に蜘蛛図|Cat Watching a Spider
猫に蜘蛛図|Cat Watching a Spider is an ink painting by the Impressionist artist Oide Tōkō. It dates from 1890 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on the cat’s alert posture and the spider’s central placement, framing the encounter as a quiet study of predator and prey.
The painting depicts a domestic cat intently observing a large spider, a scene drawn from everyday life in late nineteenth-century Japan. The composition centers on the cat’s alert posture and the spider’s central placement, framing the encounter as a quiet study of predator and prey. In Japanese visual culture of the period, such genre scenes often carried layered meanings: the cat could symbolize vigilance or cunning, while the spider might invoke themes of patience and strategy.
The work’s restrained palette and delicate brushwork emphasize observation over action, suggesting a contemplative rather than dramatic interpretation of the natural world.
Technique & Style
Created in 1890 by Ōide Tōkō, this work is executed as an album leaf using ink and color applied to a silk support. The painting measures 37.5 cm in height and 27.9 cm in width. Stylistically, the piece functions as a genre scene, depicting a cat observing a spider (Araneae).
The combination of mineral pigments and ink on the fine silk ground is characteristic of Japanese painting traditions of the Meiji period, allowing for both precise linear definition and subtle color modulation suitable for the intimate scale of an album format.
History & Provenance
The painting is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it is recorded as accession number 2015.501. Its dimensions are 37.5 cm in height and 27.9 cm in width, and it is identified as an album leaf executed in ink and color on silk, painted in 1890 by Oide Tōkō. No exhibition history is documented in the provided sources.
Overview
Oide Tōkō's Cat Watching a Spider (猫に蜘蛛図), created around 1890, captures a simple, everyday interaction. Rendered in ink and delicate color on a silk album leaf, the painting presents a quiet genre scene. It depicts a domestic cat intently observing a small spider, suspended from a thread.
The artwork focuses on an ordinary, unembellished moment, inviting viewers to appreciate the subtle details of daily life rather than a grand narrative.
Artist & collection
