Rudolf Epp (1834-1910, German) was a realist painter of the Munich School who primarily painted women and children with cats in domestic scenes. Epp started drawing at a young age, and he studied art at the Grand Ducal Baden Art School in Karlsruhe. Later he also attended the Dusseldorf Art Academy. Around 1859, he produced landscapes after a trip to the Black Forest. In 1862, he married and moved to Munich where he quickly gained notoriety as a popular painter.
Epp used his daughters as models in some of his paintings which are realistic depictions of German home life in the 19th century. And he must have liked cats very much as most of these works include a cat or cats. These simple and sometimes humorous genre pieces were very much appreciated by the public. Even though the subjects are unsophisticated, there is a certain charm to them. His works numbered in the hundreds, and many were confiscated by the Nazis during WWII.
Epp has remained a popular artist with many of his paintings still being sold at auction today.

Cat and Mirror

Playing with the Cat

Girl with a Cat

Peeling Apples

Detail Peeling Apples

Großmutter und ihren Katzen
Grandmother and her Cats

Breakfast Time

Strickendes Mädchen
Girl Sewing

Baby and Cat

Two Girls Chatting

Child Dressing

Girl Knitting with her Cat

Grandmother’s Story

In der Stube

In the Barn

Mother and Child Feeding the Cats

Old Woman and Cat

Putting Socks on

The Morning Prayer

The Morning Wash

Visit to Grandmother’s

Watching Kitty Play

Wearing the Crown-Brautschmueckung

The Bug

The Milk Bowl

Evening

Girl with a Basket Holding a Cat

Kiss Me Quick

Spinning

The Sick Mother, Die Kranke Mutter

Woman playing with cat

Work break

Woman with a book and cat
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