Steady Gaze (Two Cats) 1960

Curator: This is Kiyoshi Saito’s 1960 woodcut, “Steady Gaze (Two Cats).” Editor: I find its composition so striking, particularly the way the minimalist cat figures are presented. Curator: Indeed. Saito was a key figure in the Sosaku-hanga movement, which emphasized the artist's individual expression throughout the entire printmaking process, diverging from the traditional collaborative approach. Editor: The stylized, elongated forms really emphasize the almost totemic quality. We have the stark black cat contrasted against the light one; a visual yin and yang? It recalls ancient feline deities like Bastet and speaks to cats' long association with both domesticity and magic. Curator: That's insightful. We should consider Saito’s work within the post-war cultural landscape of Japan. Sosaku-hanga allowed artists to explore new visual languages after the rigid censorship of the war years. These cats, in their simplified form, represented a turn toward personal subjects and a gentler, more introspective art. Editor: The butterfly too! The white cat fixates on the yellow butterfly between the figures. Is it simply a bit of playful prey, or a symbol of transformation, even a fleeting soul? The two could suggest the interplay of desire and potential—the black cat, grounded and observant, the white cat chasing a fragile hope. Curator: Fascinating interpretation. The image appeared during a period of rapid modernization and westernization, and these types of subjects gave artists new means to engage traditional imagery without falling into historical styles. Editor: For me, the power here resides in its symbolic clarity—the bold simplicity is very striking. It allows viewers to project their own narratives onto it. Curator: Precisely, and in that projection we discover the resonance that allows the work to retain relevance over time. Editor: Agreed. There's a reason these images become part of our visual memory, it's through this engagement and cultural inheritance.