In my last post, What do cats symbolise in art? I showed you how cats have been a favourite topic in art since the Ancient Egyptians. With the launch of my recent Quirky Cat collection, I decided that this was an important question to ask: Why do artists paint cats? Here are my top 3 reasons.
Number 1: Cats and their Spiritual Meaning
Many cultures take their wisdom from animals and the environment and in our cultural stories, animals have qualities and behaviours we can strongly identify with as humans.
Artists paint cats because of what they represent spiritually – Protection, independence, curiosity, spontaneity and magic (amongst other things).
Franz Marc, an abstract expressionist, spent his career painting animals. He felt a spiritual connection to all the animals he painted. Somehow, he hoped to connect his spirit to theirs, and theirs to ours. He was an artist who painted cats and I think his white cat is a masterpiece, showing the protective and calming spirit of the cat.
Number 2 - Cats Make Special Pets
Our feline friends have been making us happy for centuries. Initially they were domesticated for their keen hunting abilities, making them a farmer’s favourite.
Nowadays, they offer us humans companionship. They don’t need a lot of space and require minimal care. Cat owners also have reduced stress levels. They are wonderful to stroke and beautiful to look at! In addition, they are so entertaining!
Did you know that Andy Warhol grew up in a house full of cats?
In 1954, Warhol and Julia, his mother, self-published 25 Cats Name Sam, which is filled with hand coloured lithographs of cats by Andy and calligraphy by Julia. The typo in the title was left deliberately by the way – that’s Warhol for you! Plus there wasn’t even 25 cats, as you can see – only 16! Ever playful like the cat!
Number 3 - They are so full of character
You only have to look at Warhol’s lithograph to see how many different personalities can be shown through the cat. From cheeky to mischievous to content and confident. They seem to encompass human qualities so well. And they look great in all different colours too. Artists paint cats fro this reason.
Here are my Mini Miaows – a black and white homage to Warhol’s 25 cats! Each cat emerged with a story to tell and a unique character with each pen stroke.
Use the contact form if you are interested in any of these original pen drawings or Gloria the Cat seen below.
