This portrait of
Foudini, the model for the author of The Autobiography
of Foudini M. Cat, was painted by Yoshiko Miyakoshi, a remarkable painter
who has had several exhibits in Kobe, Japan, and who is also my Japanese
tutor. It is a miracle that this portrait exists at all, because Foudini
has a tendency to flee at the sight of strangers, and Yoshiko herself was
dubious about painting the cat's portrait because she was not used to painting
animals, much less painting portraits of animals, especially since she was
at that time going through a tree-painting phase.
We went upstairs so that Yoshiko could, we hoped, take a look
at Foudini. Instead of immediately diving off the bed, the cat picked up
his head and stared at Yoshiko, who in turn crouched down and stared at him.
They seemed to be reaching a wordless understanding, and Yoshiko went home
and painted Foudini's portrait.
Thereafter, whenever Yoshiko came to the house, Foudini (who
sleeps all afternoon), would come downstairs and jump onto the table, sending
books flying to the floor, and stare worshipfully at his portraitist. This
unprecedented, and almost traitorous, affection for Yoshiko has persisted,
leading me to think that the cat somehow recognizes Yoshiko, because he has
never, even for an instant, regarded her as a stranger.
Yoshiko Miyakoshi is now painting scenes in Vermont, and her
paintings of trees, which seem to be alive and moving on their canvases,
grow more remarkable with every passing week. |
