When I first painted this particular "Fuji" I referenced a copyright free image of an anonymous man. I posted the piece as "Pondering Fuji" on Facebook. My friend Akiko Murata thought that the man might be the writer Natsume Soseki. I now believe this image to be a profile of a young Mark Twain...but I do agree that the two men looked very much alike. They not only looked alike, they were both skilled social satirists and shared a surprisingly high regard for cats, as well as a less than flattering view of their own species.
Mark Twain wrote...
"Of all God's creatures there is only one that cannot be made the slave of the lash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat."
Natsume Soseki's nameless narrator from his comic novel "I Am a Cat" purrs...
“Thus, as I review the list of my friends and acquaintances, most of them emerge as stained with maniac stigmata of one sort or another. I begin to feel considerably reassured. The truth may simply be that human society is no more than a massing of lunatics.”
These days some would call Twain and Soseki "Brothers from Another Mother".
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Pondering (or Feline) Fuji Acrylic on Wood Photo by Jay York 3 1/2 x 9 1/2" |
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