Théodule-Augustin Ribot (1823 – 1891, French ) was born in Saint-Nicolas-d’Attez and studied at the École des Arts et Métiers de Châlons. After finishing his studies in 1845, he moved to Paris.
Ribot was a self-taught realist painter of domestic and still life scenes as well as portraits. In 1861, he debuted at the Paris Salon with four paintings of kitchen scenes. These works were quite popular, and they were easily sold.
Ribot was interested in the contrasts between light and dark and preferred painting from nature. Ribot used his own family members as models in many of his works. In fact, he used the family cat as a subject in his paintings as well. In Chat Dormant which depicts a woman holding a sleeping white cat, we see the same cat being used in several other paintings. Ribot’s depiction of the cat here signifies that the animal was an important part of every day life.
Sleeping Cat
In 1878 Ribot received the Légion d’honneur. In 1891, Théodule-Augustin Ribot, in ill health, stopped painting and moved to Colombes where he died.
The Fortune Teller
Three Witches and a Black Cat Seated around a Cauldron
The Sick Cat
The Cat’s Lunch
The Young Cook
The Cat and the Cook
Four studies of a cat seen from behind
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