Dali Atomicus
Cats in Art is a page that links to the endless examples of art in which cats have served a role or been the central subject matter. This is a growing page.
I am not sure, but it seems to me that cats lend themselves to being the subject matter of art. And I mean the humble domestic cat and the fantastic wildcats, particularly the tiger and lion. There are piles of decorative paintings on the internet of tigers and lions, an indication of how much we like them. It is a shame therefore that we cannot seem to arrest their gradual decline to extinction in the wild.
| You might like to try and spot how many cats Franz March has painted in this video. |
As to the domestic cat, some fine artists have been companions to cats and they have from time to time turned their talents in the direction of their companion cat. Here is a starting list of cats in art(at April 2nd 2009). More to come. When the list is large enough I will sort them alphabetically. Cats in Art:
Franz Marc Cat behind a Tree
At 21st March 2009, the painting, Kinderbild (Katze hinter einem Baum) or “Children’s painting (cat behind a tree),” by Fritz Marc has been returned …
Study of Cat Movements and Positions
Leonardo da Vinci’s Study of Cat Movements and Positions is interesting on two levels. Firstly there is the obvious Leonardo genius in drawing, with …
Franz Marc Three Cats
Three Cats was made in 1913. It is Oil on canvas. It’s size is: 72 x 102 cm. The German artist, Franz Marc, was a talented expressionist painter who …
Arthur Heyer – Angora Kitten (opens in new window 
)
Arthur Heyer was a German-Hungarian painter of animals, cats, dogs, horses etc. His cats are the most popular today and prints are widely on sale on the internet. He was an extremely talented draftsman. His work tends towards the “chocolate box” and is probably why it is still so popular.
Mary Cassatt – Children Playing with a Cat (opens in new window )
Mary Cassatt was an America artist who lived much of her life in France amongst artists like herself including the Impressionists. She came from a well to do family in Pennsylvania. She was little know during her life but her paintings are valuable today.
Francisco de Goya – Boy with Cats (opens in new window )
I created this title by the way. The painting is of a prince who has a magpie on a string as a pet and there are some cats in the background looking eagerly on – how many cats are there? Companion cats in 1734 were popular just like now.
Cat by Francisco Domingo Marqués (opens in new window )
This is a painting of a beautiful young cat that I think is female. It was probably painted in the late 1800s, a time when the companion cat was becoming more popular.
Azerbaiyan Stamps (opens in new window )
I think that is quite a rare thing to depict purebred cats on stamps. In 1995, Azerbaijan did this. The cat featured in this post is also rare, a Chartreux.
Dali Atomicus (opens in new window )
This is a very well known photograph, the result of a Salvidor Dali Philippe Halsman collaboration. I like the photograph and know it well. What I don’t like quite so much is the fact that three cats had to be thrown around 28 times before these artists were satisfied with the result! I don’t think the cats were hurt. I hope not. The photograph heads this page.
White Cats Watching Goldfish (opens in new window )
This is a post by my colleague, Valley Girl. It shows Arthur Heyer’s (1872 – 1931) painting of two gorgeous white cats, probably Persians (traditional Persians as at the time there wasn’t such a creature as the modern flat faced Persian thank heaven) looking at a household aquarium. VG also includes a video of what a cat does in the real world under these circumstances!
Who’s The Fairest of them All? (opens in new window )
A painting by Frank Paton ca. 1880. He is one of us (I’m English) and he lived during the Victorian and Edwardian eras. He is best known for his paintings of animals and for scenes of rural life. Just my cup of tea. These are popular almost decorative paintings.
Pierre Bonnard – Ambroise Vollard with his cat (opens in new window )
This was painted in 1924. Pierre Bonnard was a fine painter of cats. This is a post on VG’s Blogger site that discusses in some detail Pierre Bonnard’s paintings incorporating cats. It must have been the case that Mr Bonnard both loved and lived with companion cats!
More cats in art to come…….always……….
- Cats in Art to Home Page
- Archived: Cats in Paintings (this page has superceded it)
Cats in Art — Photo: the rationale on copyright for publishing the photograph at the top of this page can be seen at the base of the post where it is featured.
