Cats in Art

Cats in Art:

Over the centuries, the natural beauty, sleek shape and fierce independence of the cat has made it a popular subject for artists.  

Cats have lived closely with both artists and writers....

Cat art has appeared as subjects on their own in cat pictures, or as part of a composition. Such a wide range of artists have painted the cat over the years -such as: Leonardo da Vinci, Andy Warhol and Rubens have all painted our feline friends and companions over the years.

The ancient Egyptians considered their beloved cats sacred. So sacred that priceless works of art have been devoted to these prestigious felines.   The house cat has had global appeal thought the ages, it has often been used to convey feelings of comfort and domesticity within the household. And what artist or writer, poet that sat

At every point on the art history time line that began with prehistoric cave paintings nearly twenty thousand years ago, Man the Artist created images of the animals around him. Horses, deer, dogs, lions, tigers, bears --wild animals of every description.

They have all been frequent inspiration for such artists throughout the centuries. But,in the huge collection of art works that man has amassed since emerging from the cave, representations of the domestic cat in cat art are relatively few.

Gradually, around 8,000 years ago, cats and humans learned that they could form a mutually beneficial relationship.

The humans protected and sheltered cats who, in return, protected their human's grain supplies. Farming released humans from the need to hunt and gather for survival, giving them the free time to develop the tools and skills required to express themselves artistically.

The palace walls of Minoan Crete were covered with naturalistic murals, many of them showing animals and birds among luxuriant vegetation. Unfortunately, only fragments of these paintings have survived, so we hardly ever have a complete composition. In such a fragment, you could see a cat behind a bush cautiously stalking a pheasant who seems unaware that it's about to be "pounced."

Cats are known to have been a part of Egyptian households by 1600 B.C. although they were not deified until much later. This touching portrayal of a mama cat with her kitten provides a glimpse of domestic life in the good old days when cats were everyday objects of worship. Mosaic tile renderings of gods, goddesses, flora and fauna covered the walls and floors of the finest homes of the Roman Empire. This mosaic portrait of a hunting cat and their catch was discovered during excavations of the houses in Pompeii.

Cats were honored and protected in Asia because the humans there recognized the value of our services in protecting food crops and the silk worm industry from destruction by rodents. This cat appeared in a 1494 album of studies by the Chinese painter Shên Chou, one of the first great masters of the Ming Dynasty.

Most Western artists of the Middle Ages produced religious paintings. Each object in a painting symbolized a particular idea or concept in Christian doctrine. In the iconography of Christian art, the cat symbolized both laziness and lust. I don't know exactly why...

In the Islamic world, the cat was respected and protected because cats were loved by the prophet Mohammed, the founder of Islam.

There is a story that Mohammed's cat Muezza once fell asleep on the sleeve of his master's robe --instead of disturbing his beloved cat when he had to leave, Mohammed cut off the sleeve of his robe.

A bronze incense burner represents a cat, as a piece of cat art, with its mouth half open and ears pricked. The back,neck and chest are all perforated to allow incense to escape. On the cat's chest is an inscription in the Kufic script which says: "Valor, power, and glory."

Rembrandt's etching, The Virgin and Child with Cat, shows a cat in an intimate domestic setting with the Holy Family. The etching, of which this is a small detail, is considered a masterpiece that set the standard for all intimate views of maternity portrayed by artists in subsequent centuries. Isn't it nice to be part of a masterpiece?

Part of the series One Hundred Views of Edo, this color woodblock print is by the Japanese artist Hiroshige Utagawa, a great master of woodblock art. Bobtail cats were thought by the Japanese to bring good luck.

[1858, Hiroshige, Cat In A Window, woodblock]

Lithography emerged in the late 19th century as a favorite graphic arts medium for advertising, a new cat art. There is a poster advertises pure, sterilized milk and features the artwork of Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, well-known for his illustrations of cat art.

Swiss artist Félix Vallotton pays homage to the quest for the exotic that was prevalent in the late 19th century. The cat in this woodcut is an important compositional element, completing the strong white diagonal that begins in the bent arm of his human and adding energy to the languor of the subject matter.

[1896, Félix Vallotton, La Paresse (Laziness), woodcut]

There is a painting by Paul Gauguin is sometimes referred to as A Tahitian Interior, but the artist named it Eiaha Ohipa which means "doing nothing" in the language of Tahiti. And is there anyone who can do nothing better than a cat?

Cats are part of our life, and so... part of our artistic expression. More now than in many times thought the ages, cats have become so popular with the human race. I am sure we are going to see allot more of our lovely felines in the cat art world.

Larger than life, proudly looking down from the walls of artisans walls and galleries.

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