Introduction_5
Part 1: A Cat's Journey_6
Part 2: A Window Open to the World_32
Rediscovering the Book Street Paintings_46
Part 4: Joseon Yeongmohwa and Parody Folk Painting_60
Portrait of a Cat Part 5_78
Appendix: Joseon Yeongmohwa Masterpieces_101

A "Cat Museum in Your Hand" that Transcends the Limits of Reading

Cats are one of the most popular themes in the art world these days.
Cat drawings are very popular not only in art galleries but also at various illustration fairs.
However, it is difficult to fully convey the charm of a work through a reduced version.
“This picture is really nice….
For readers who may have felt this regret, “Can’t we see the bigger picture?”, a ‘full-fledged cat art book’ focused on the joy of appreciating and owning the works has been published by Meow Books, a cat publishing company.


The first book in the 'Cat Painting Album' series to be published by Yaongseo Bookstore starting in 2024, 'Son Yu-young's Cat Korean Painting Album', was planned to allow readers to fully experience the vitality and loveliness contained in cats as Korean paintings through various visual devices such as the 180-degree open exposed iron binding, the large format of the national edition (A4 size), and the adoption of partial enlarged plates that vividly show the delicate depiction of the cat's body.


The author of this book, Son Yu-yeong, majored in Korean painting and has been working as a folk painting artist for 20 years, enjoying drawing cats.
Initially, he presented folk paintings parodying the cat iconography in Joseon Dynasty portraits, but recently, he has been experimenting with various forms of painting, including modern creative folk paintings that incorporate elements such as ‘windows’ and ‘doors’ that symbolize communication with the world, reinterpretations of book-like folk paintings, and portraits of cats that contain precious relationships with people around them.
In particular, Son Yu-young's paintings do not simply depict cats as 'pretty models', but rather are filled with the familial love felt every day while living with her companion cat, 'Bomi', so they make the viewer smile softly.

Additionally, the detailed depiction of the cat's body, derived from a solid foundation, is the most attractive point of Son Yu-yeong's cat folk paintings.
The ability to vividly see the direction of hair changing depending on the position of the muscles, and even the details of transparently shining eyes, are advantages of a large-scale painting album designed for appreciation.


In particular, this book includes a special appendix that will be helpful to readers who want to draw cats of our land in a Korean style.
This book features masterpieces of Joseon portraits, previously only available in small print in other traditional art books, in large format, with the artist personally drawing the outlines of the cat parts.
Through this book, the author continues to work as a 'cat picture evangelist' and aims to convey the charm of our country's cats to the world.