Ay-O - RAINBOW ROUSSEAUのピエール・ロティ氏の猫 (MIXバック) - (RAINBOW ROUSSEAU - Pierre Loti's Cat)

Modern | Sōsaku Hanga Silkscreen Print

Ay-O playfully transforms Henri Rousseau’s famed “Portrait of Mr. X (Pierre Loti)” by replacing the original tabby with a rainbow-banded feline seated on a plush cushion, all set against a rich mustard-gold backdrop. The cat’s layered hues echo Ay-O’s signature color rhythms, while the nod to the French naval officer and connoisseur of cats adds a dash of art-historical wit. 🐱🌈🖼️

• Year & Edition: 1999 · Ed. of 100 (24/100) (editioned, signed & dated in pencil to plate).
• Medium: Silkscreen on Arches paper, printed by Tokuzo Okabe.
• Dimensions: Sheet H: 39.40 cm × W: 32.50 cm; Image H: 26.50 cm × W: 21.50 cm.
• Condition: Excellent; vibrant, unblemished image; paper clean, crisp & intact.
• Notes: Mustard-background variant (MIXバック) – Raisonné No. 889 in Rainbow Rainbow: Ay-O’s Rainbow Prints Catalogue Raisonné 1982–2000 (Abe Publishing, 2004). The original Rousseau portrait lies in the Kunsthaus Zurich.

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]