Ay-O - 猫 vs. 胡蝶 (Cat vs Butterfly)

Modern | Sōsaku Hanga Silkscreen Print

In this vivid 2001 silkscreen, Ay-O reimagines an Edo-period classic - Suzuki Harunobu’s “A Cat and Butterflies” - through his signature rainbow gradations. A curious cat gazes upward at a fluttering butterfly, all set against a deep cobalt field. This companion piece to “春信 vs. 北斎” (Harunobu vs. Hokusai, #910) blends historical homage with modern vibrancy and appears in a smaller edition run, making it especially collectible. 🐱🦋

• Year & Edition: 2001 · Ed. of 80 (37/80) (editioned, signed & dated in pencil to plate).
• Medium: Silkscreen on Arches paper, printed by Tokuzo Okabe.
• Dimensions: Sheet H: 38.00 cm × W: 28.00 cm (Image H: 27.50 cm × W: 21.00 cm).
• Condition: Beautiful; unmarked image with vivid, saturated colour; paper clean, crisp & intact.
• Notes: Raisonné No. 911 in Rainbow Rainbow Rainbow: Ay-O’s Rainbow Prints Catalogue Raisonné 2000–2011 (epjp/ePublishing, 2012).

About the Artist

Ay-O (born 1931) is a seminal figure in postwar Japanese avant-garde art, celebrated for his immersive “Rainbow” series of vibrant paintings, silkscreens and installations. Early influences included the Demokrato Artist Association and the Society for Creative Art Education, which fostered his experimental spirit. In the 1960s he joined George Maciunas’s Fluxus movement, collaborating with Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik and Claes Oldenburg on boundary-pushing performances. Ay-O’s playful, multi-sensory use of gradated colour has earned him international acclaim, with major exhibitions at the National Museum of Asian Art (Washington, D.C.) and Kunsthal Aarhus, and works held in the British Museum, MoMA (New York) and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. [ ← View All Works by Ay-O]