Matazo Kayama (1927-2004, Japanese)

Matazo Kayama (1927-2004, Japanese) enrolled in the Japanese Painting Academy in Kyoto when he was 13 and in 1944, even though Japan was suffering through the concluding years of WWII, Kayama studied Nihonga at the Tokyo National Academy of Fine Arts. In 1961, Kayama held his first exhibition in New York and consequently held others in Moscow and at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. In addition to his paintings, Matazo Kayama designed pagodas, temples and designed the mural in the Japanese Embassy in the United States.

Animals were Kayama’s favorite subjects and his works seem to be a mixture between painting and photography. His cats are fluffy Persians or sleek Siamese posed doing typical cat behaviors or next to beautiful flowers as is typical of Japanese paintings.

Cat and Blue Butterflies

Cat and Butterfly

Cat and Feather

Cat and Flowers

Cat and Praying Manthis

Cat

Mother Cat and Kitten

Siamese and Butterfly

White Cat

Young Cat, 1991

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