Louis Wain
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Louis Wain (1860-1939) was an artist from England best known for his drawings, which consistently featured anthropomorphised large-eyed cats and kittens. A cat-lover himself and sometime President of The National Cat Club of England, Wain claimed in an interview in 1896 that his "fanciful cat creations" were first suggested to him by Peter, his black & white cat.
He suffered in later years from schizophrenia. His mind failed and he was admitted in poverty to a mental hospital. He continued to work sporadically until his death in 1939. Prior to his illness, he was a popular and prolific artist: original printings of his many postcards, books and pictures are now sought-after collector's items.
A series of four of his paintings is commonly used as an example in psychology textbooks to, putatively, show the change in his style as his psychological condition deteriorated with time. However, the works of art were not in actuality created in the order they are usually presented.
External links
- Catland: the art of Louis Wain (http://www.lilitu.com/catland/)
- Louis Wain's Kitten Book (http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/louis_wain_kitten_book/)
- Neuroscience Art Gallery: Art by Psychotics. Louis Wain (http://www.epub.org.br/cm/gallery/gall_leonardo/fig1-a.htm)