When not participating in dangerous flights and setting new records, the cat, just as it had done in previous centuries, played an integral part in art and photography. Enduring as a cultural and social icon, the cat symbolized femininity, sensuality, domesticity, lust, and evil. An essential ingredient for cultural and social commentary, the cat was […]
Cats in the 19th Century (Part 9-Cats in Art-Theophile Steinlen)
March 28, 2014 By 2 Comments
Probably best known for his posters, the Swiss artist Théophile Alexandre Steinlen (1859-1923) loved cats. As a young boy, he drew cats in the margins of his books and grew up to live in a house he named, “Cat’s Cottage”. While living in Paris, his house on the Rue Caulaincourt became a well-known gathering place for all the […]
CATS IN BAROQUE PAINTINGS (Part 2)
August 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment
The Dutch painters of the golden age turned to realism instead of religious subjects, as portrait painting was much more lucrative. Dutch genre paintings tend to illustrate everyday life at all levels of society, and cats, essential to most households, are often in these still lifes and portraits. In The Katzen Familie (1650), the Dutch […]
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