Print

1989

Length:30.5 x Width:57.5 (cm)

Chen Chi-Mao (1926-2005, Fujian) was graduated from the Western Painting Division of the Xiamen Academy of Fine Arts in 1937. In 1946, he came to Taiwan to help establish the Keelung City News and went on to teach at schools in Keelung, Hualien, Chiayi, and Taichung. Chen first encountered woodcut art in secondary school and pursued it throughout his life, publishing print collections such as Song of Youth, Spring on the Plains, and Moon Over Swan Lake. He received the Gold Medal at the Free China Fine Arts Exhibition and the Golden Seal Award from the Chinese Republic Printmaking Society. A founding member of several art organizations including the Chinese Printmakers Association and the Figure Painting Society, Chen played a pioneering role in the development of modern printmaking in Taiwan.
Chen Chi-Mao frequently used cats as a central motif in his work. Beginning in 1981, he developed a series titled Days of Cats and Flowers, combining recurring themes of cats, flowers, and women. This piece is part of that series. The composition features a nude woman lying face-down on the ground. Next to her stands a bare tree, its branches stripped of leaves. A white cat rests sprawled along one of the branches, while two small white birds perch in the distance, set against a gradient background of red and yellow, evoking the atmosphere of autumn. The composition is distinctive and inventive. The tree trunk and branches form near-right angles that frame the woman in the lower foreground, while the upper portion is filled with a dense network of branches. This arrangement creates a balanced interplay of density and openness, with clearly defined layers. Combined with Chen’s unembellished woodcut technique, the work conveys a quiet, leisurely mood that reflects the essence of autumn.

Accession number:20180100033