Will Barnet (1911-2012, American)

Self-Portrait with Cat

Will Barnet (1911-2012, American) born in Beverly, Massachusetts the son of a Russian immigrant, became interested in art at a very young age. He studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and in 1930 studied at the Art Students’ League of New York and eventually became an instructor there. Known for his printmaking, most of his works document his own life including his wife, children and pets, integrating the personal and universal. The flat linear surfaces of his works hint at abstraction. His first works can be categorized as social realism because he set out to depict the struggles of those most affected by The Depression. In the 1940’s, Barnet became a key artist in the Indian Space Painting movement which was based on the abstract art of Native Americans and was also influenced by Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Robert Motherwell. This was a natural move since Barnet had always been influenced by Picasso. However, by the 1960’s Barnet reverted back to his original style.

In his print Woman Reading, 1970, his wife Elena poses with their cat Madame Butterfly. Other of Barnet’s works include his cat Minou. Barnet is said to have dismissed any visitor to his studio if his feline did not approve of him/her. Clearly, Barnet was a cat lover.

Woman Reading in Bed with Cat, 1970

In 2012, Barnet was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama, a crowning achievement to be placed amongst his numerous other awards.

Barnet is quoted as saying, “At the age of 10 or 12, I discovered that being an artist would give me an ability to create something which would live on after death.” He died at 101.

Young Woman with White Cat gouache painting

Anticipation

Cat and Canary

Sense of Play, 1975

Soliloquy, serigraph of woman on rug with cat, 1972

Striped Socks, drypoint etching of girl with cat

Woman and Cat on Rug

Study for Self-Portrait (with wife and cat) Charcoal on vellum with traces of colored pencil, 1983

The Bannister lithograph of woman and cat, 1981

The Caller (cat in tree) lithograph, 1977

The Doorway

The Blue Robe etching and aquatint of woman with black cat, 1971Will Barnet

The Blue Robe etching, 1971

The Golden Thread, painting of cat and parrot and ball of yarn, 1980

The White Staircase seriograph of woman and black cat, 1974

Three Chairs oil painting, 1991–92

Three Chairs II (family with two birds and a cat) oil painting, 1995

Totem serigraph, 1982

Two Cats (red chair)

Waiting woodcut

Cat Lover, 1987. Gouache on Vellum

Will Barnet - Minou-Study of Head, 1989. Charcoal and pencil on vellum. (Minou was Barnet's feline companion throughout many of his most prolific years.

Minou-Study of Head, 1989. Charcoal and pencil on vellum. (Minou was Barnet’s feline companion throughout many of his most prolific years.

Study for Woman Cat and Yarn, 1981

The Blue Thread

Woman and Cat, 1979 – charcoal on vellum

Kiesler, Wife and Cat and Husband

Untitled, 1984.

Woman and Cat Play

Chess

Daughter Reading with Black Cat

Interlude

Meditation and Mirror

Twilight etching and aquatint of woman reading to child and cat, 1988

Playing with String

Reading

Red Aurora of Girl Reading and Black Cat, 1977

The Sled

The Walk

Will Barnet, Three Men with a White Cat on Motocycle

Three Men with a White Cat on Motorcycle

Wife and Daughter with Cat

Woman Facing Right with Two Black Cats

Woman and Two Cats lithograph, 1969

Woman, Cat and Tree

Youth, 1970, Oil on canvas

Woman on Tree With Cat

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