This is Leonardo da Vinci’s (15 April 1452 – 2 May 1519) Study of the Madonna and Child with a Cat, 1478. It is nice that he has a domestic cat in the picture. However, in every drawing of cats … Continue reading →
Louis William Wain (1860-1939) was a talented artist who is famous for his anthropomorphic cats which were regularly clothed and which were often found on greeting cards and in satirical illustrations. He was a prolific artist whose work was not … Continue reading →
Although Wikipedia makes no mention whatsoever of Marc Chagall’s love of cats, they play a major part in many of his paintings. They are shown as companions and symbolic of women and domesticity according to one specialist. It seems that … Continue reading →
It is hoped that a Roman mosaic from the 4th-century of a leopard attacking an antelope, which was discovered in the grounds of Dewlish House in Dorset in 1974, will stay in the country. It is the sort of historical … Continue reading →
You never quite know the formula for becoming an internet, social media sensation perhaps because there is no formula. But, Phil Heckels’s questionable skills as an artist have caught the imagination of the public. With a pinch of salt, he … Continue reading →
Peru’s Ministry of Culture report that they have discovered a feline figure carved into an arid hillside around 2,000 years ago. This is a geoglyph made in the rocky soil of the Nazca Desert in southern Peru. This huge drawing … Continue reading →
Cats have been used extensively in advertising. A specific poster got me onto the subject. It is not strictly advertising in the sense that we know it but using a fierce black cat to promote the United States Tank Corps … Continue reading →
I have been bold enough to say that Barbara Hepworth loved cats. If you’re not completely sure, Barbara Hepworth was an English sculptor. She was celebrated and renowned. She was a Dame of the British Empire and was internationally recognised. … Continue reading →
Today is a good day to ask whether Vincent van Gogh had a cat because on this day in 1890, Vincent van Gogh shot himself once in the chest. He was aged 37 and it took him two days to … Continue reading →
From time to time I like to write about cats in paintings. This is one by Lucian Freud which he completed between 1948 and 1949. The painting shows Kitty Garman (1926-2011) holding a cat. Freud was married to Kitty between … Continue reading →
