Tuesday 30 August 2016

Cats in Art - part 2

Continuing a look at art that has featured cats in one way or another, either as the subject of the work, or as an adjunct to it.

They say you’re either a ‘dog person’ or a ‘cat person.’ I’ve always fallen into the latter category, so I thought I would do a themed feature for this series of posts, covering a large time span through art history.

The time span of approximately five-hundred artworks in the series (in roughly chronological order) is close to five hundred years - from 1525 (Francesco d’Ubertino Verdito) to 1999 (Louise Bourgeois).

This is part 2 of a 9-part series on Cats in Art. For earlier works see part 1 also. Note: I have added portraits and dates of the artists where I was able to find them.


Giovanni Battista Cipriani
(1727 Florence, Italy - 1785 London, UK)

Giovanni Battista Cipriani
Young Girl Playing a Violin, With Cat on Hind-paws
graphite, black and red chalks on laid paper 14.5 x 9 cm
Private Collection

Jean-Baptiste Greuze
(1725 Tournus, France - 1805 Louvre, France)
Self-Portrait c1769
oil on canvas
Musée du Louvre

Jean-Baptiste Greuze
Espirit de Baculard d'Arnaud 1776
oil on canvas

George Stubbs
(1724 Liverpool, UK - 1806 London, UK)
Self-Portrait
National Portrait Gallery, London

George Stubbs
Miss Ann White's Kitten 1790
oil on canvas 25.4 x 30.5 cm
Private Collection

John Russell
(1745 Guildford, UK - 1808 Hull, UK)
Self-Portrait 1794
 pastel


John Russell
Boy and Cat 1791
pastel on paper 58.7 x 44.5 cm
Tate, London

Utagawa Kuniyoshi
(1797 Edo, Japan-1861 Edo, Japan)
Woman Holding a Cat 1852
coloured xylograph 36.7 x 24.8 cm
Private Collection

1800-99 A Sleeping Cat
gouache 24.3 x 35.3 cm
© Wellcome Collection, London

William Thompson Bartoll
(1811 Marblehead, Essex County, MA - 1859 Marblehead, Essex County, MA)
Girl in Orange Dress
76.2 x 61 cm

Louis-Léopold Boilly
(1761 La Bassée, France - 1845 Paris, France)
Self-Portrait

Louis-Léopold Boilly
Gabrielle Arnault as a Child 1815c
oil on canvas 21 x 16 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

Théodore Géricault
(1791 Rouen, France - 1824 Paris, France)
Portrait by Alexandre Colin 1816

Théodore Géricault
Portrait of Louise Vernet as a Child 1818-19
oil on canvas 60.5 x 50.5 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

Théodore Géricault
Studies of a Cat 1820-21c
graphite and black chalk on tan wove paper 32.2 x 40.3 cm

Théodore Géricault
The Dead Cat 1821
oil on canvas 50 x 61 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

Fritz Zuber-Bühler
(1822 Le Locle, Switzerland - 1896 Paris, France)
Mädchen mit Katze
black chalk heightened with white 58 x 44 cm


Sophie Gengembre Anderson
(1823 Paris-1903 Falmouth, UK)

Sophie Gengembre Anderson
Her Favourite Pet n.d.
oil on canvas
Private Collection


Alfred Émile Léopold Stevens
(1823 Brussels, Belgium - 1906 Paris, France)

Alfred Émile Léopold Stevens
Allegory of the Night

Sir Edwin Henry Landseer
(1802 London - 1873 London)

Sir Edwin Henry Landseer
The Cat's Paw 1824c
oil on panel 75.6 x 69.8 cm
Private Collection


Charles Joshua Chaplin
(1825 Normandy, France - 1891 Paris)
Portrait by Célestin Nanteuil

Charles Joshua Chaplin
Girl with Cat

Charles Joshua Chaplin
Girl with a Cat
oil on canvas 75 x 48 cm

Charles Joshua Chaplin
Girl with a Cat
oil on canvas

Totoya Hokkei
Cat Playing with a Toy Butterfly, from the series “Thirty-six Pictures of Birds" 1828
colour woodblock with metallic pigments 21.2 x 17.7 cm
Art Institute of Chicago, IL

Utagawa Hiroshige
(1707 Edo, Japan -1858 Edo, Japan)

Utagawa Hiroshige
Cat Crossing to Eat 1830-44
woodblock print
Horatio Henry Couldery
(1832 Lewisham, London - 1893 Sydenham, London)

Horatio Henry Couldery
A Dangerous Toy

Horatio Henry Couldery
A Mischievous Party
oil on canvas 35.8 x 46.3 cm
Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport, UK

Horatio Henry Couldery
An Oyster Supper
oil on wood 45.7 x 61 cm
Nottingham City Museums and Galleries, UK

Horatio Henry Couldery
Cats by a Fishbowl

Horatio Henry Couldery
Curiosity
oil on canvas 60 x 83 cm.

Horatio Henry Couldery
Fanciers

Horatio Henry Couldery
Kittens
oil on canvas 34.9 x 45.1 cm
Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport, UK

 Horatio Henry Couldery
Naughty Cats Eating a Five Pound Note

Horatio Henry Couldery
Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Horatio Henry Couldery
Reluctant Playmate

 Horatio Henry Couldery
Tabby Cat

Horatio Henry Couldery
The Blue Cushion

Léon-Jean-Basile Perrault
(1832 Poitiers, France - 1908 Royan, France)

Léon-Jean-Basile Perrault
Best Friends
oil on panel 41 x 32.7 cm

George Dunlop Leslie
(1835 London - 1921 Lindfield, Sussex)

George Dunlop Leslie
Her First Place
oil on canvas 203.5 x 116.8 cm
Christopher Wood Gallery, London

Carl Reichert
(1836 Vienna, Austria - 1918 Gratz, Austria)

Carl Reichert
Cats and a Cockatoo

Carl Reichert
Cats in the Kitchen

Carl Reichert
Dinnerparty
oil on panel 28 x 34 cm.

Carl Reichert
Kittens on a Spinning Wheel

Carl Reichert
Kittens Playing Cards

Carl Reichert
Kittens Playing with Beetles

Carl Reichert
Mother and Kittens

Carl Reichert
Tea Time

Carl Reichert
The Kitten's Recital

Carl Reichert
Cats in the Boudoir
oil on panel 24 x 18.5 cm