How Louis Wayne Turned Cats Into High Art

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The cats have inspired some really cool artwork. From ancient Egypt to online cat memes, our feline friends have been portrayed in the arts pretty much as long as humans have been making pictures. But starting in the late 1800s, an English artist named Louis Wayne helped usher in a new era in kitty artwork.

Wain’s complicated life will be portrayed in a recent movie from Amazon Studios. The electric life of Louis Waynestarring Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role, covers Wayne’s rise to become one of the most famous Victorian artists, and how his struggles with mental health and poverty affected his work.

With that in mind, we thought it would be the perfect time to explore the life and career of this feline-friendly artist, as well as how his drawings of cats helped reshape the public’s imagination toward our feline companions.

Born in 1860, Louis Wayne is the eldest of six children. After a childhood marred by financial and emotional hardships, he studied at West London School of Art. He soon took a teaching position there to support himself, his mother, and sisters after his father’s death. Wain’s interest in the visual arts was a vital part of his life from an early age, and he would eventually leave his teaching assignment to pursue a career as a freelance artist.

Wayne’s time as an illustrator for many English newspapers and magazines helped hone his drawing skills. His early commercial works throughout the 1880s were characterized by intricate depictions of English country estates and landscapes, which allowed him to sharpen his keen eye for detail. In addition, he was often commissioned to paint livestock at farm fairs and agricultural shows.

Wayne married Emily Richardson at the age of 23. After his wife falls ill, Wayne rescues a stray black and white man named Peter. Emily, who has breast cancer, has found comfort and joy in Peter’s presence, and her husband will begin painting pictures of their memories together. Emily died of her illness three years after her health deteriorated, and Wayne sought to continue painting his cat to honor his beloved late wife.

In Victorian England, cats did not get the same love and devotion they receive today. Cats were primarily useful animals, useful in catching mice and not much else. They were rarely kept as pets, as dogs were more common. Instead, feral cats roamed the bustling industrial streets of London and other modern cities and were primarily seen as a nuisance to business owners.

Louis Wayne’s work helped dispel this idea. Wayne’s drawings of cats began to fascinate the nation, beginning with The Christmas Commended for Cats in the Illustrated London News in 1886. His quirky pieces depicted anthropomorphic cats in a clever display of contemporary English society—playing games, drinking tea, smoking, and perhaps most importantly, Wearing great clothes.

Soon, Wayne’s cat drawings were everywhere. Kittens playing cards, riding bikes, or attending operas will appear on greeting cards, postcards, collectible printouts, and newspapers across the country. Wayne worked quickly, producing hundreds of drawings a year during his most prolific period. His unique drawing technique of working with a pen in each hand allowed him to draw the cats out at the pace the audience demanded.

Despite this increase in popularity, Wayne continued to struggle financially throughout his life. He was selling his pictures directly to mass production and had no copyright or protection for his work. His poor financial resources and relentless production may have contributed to his mental health issues as he progressed.

In 1924, Wayne was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and was taken to a mental hospital. While institutionalizing Wain, he continued to gain attention, which eventually caught the audience’s attention and highlighted his hardships. A public campaign led by his fans and admirers eventually reached the then Prime Minister of England, Ramsay MacDonald, who arranged for him to be moved to better facilities for continued care. MacDonald also issued a pension to Wayne’s surviving family to recognize his contribution to the arts.

In his later years, Wayne’s work grew more abstract and experimental, which some attribute to his deteriorating mental state. His cat drawings are beginning to show an eclectic, colorful flourish that reflects a departure from his traditional comic style. After producing hundreds of artworks over almost half a century, Louis Wayne died in 1939 at the age of 78.

today, Museums And private collections around the world continue to showcase Wain’s vast collection of work. All of his drawings remain in the public domain, and you can still find them on postcards and prints to this day. Thanks to his efforts, cats have undergone a dramatic reassessment in the public eye, and we still love to dress up our furry friends and imagine them living lives not much different from ours.

In the great Louis Wain tradition, portraits of cats are still a popular way to immortalize our feline companions. Hanging some cat artwork in your home is a great way to design a file Cat friendly space Shows your love for all things four-legged and cats. A Louis Wain print is the perfect holiday gift for the arts-loving cat owners in your life, as is commissioning a portrait of your own cat.

Image credits: All images are public domain

Author Biography

This guest post was kindly contributed by Hazel Bennett Freelance writer and blogger. She has a degree in communications and lives in northeastern Ohio. Hazel loves to write about many topics and to show her expertise in words.

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