Louis Waine
Louis Wain was a very popular and influential artist in England in the late 1800s. Louis Wain is one of the most popular illustrators in England’s history and is still very well known to this day. Louis Wain became very successful producing illustrations and paintings of cats. Wain initially produced traditional pieces of work and later shifted to more abstract representations of cats. His artwork is considered amazing, curious and fascinating by many. According to the article “Cute Cats and Psychedelia: The Tragic Life of Louis Wain,” his art was considered so well remarked that he was considered to have “invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world,” as expressed by H.G. Wells.
Louis Wain’s Legacy began in England. Wain sold his first drawing of a cat in 1884 to The Illustrated London News. Wain was soon requested to illustrate a children’s book called “Madame Tabby’s Establishment” written by Caroline Hughes. Wain was a very influential artist at the time to English society and is well known for his portrayals of cats. According to the article “The Colorful, Dancing, Psychedelic Cats of Louis Wain,” Wain’s first big success was in 1886 when he was asked to illustrate an image for The Illustrated News. The art that he created is known as “A Kitten’s Christmas Party.” This artwork was a collage of several illustrations of cats in a personified portrayal. The cats are depicted doing human-like things such as dining, washing dishes, dancing and socializing. His image is blocks and white and is more of a traditional style illustration.
Wain was a very talented and successful artist, but much of his fame is primarily about his struggles with his mental health rather than his portrayals of cats. Wain had a very tragic life, and creating art was an outlet for him. Wain had schizophrenia and also……. and he produced some of his pieces in a mental health facility. Wain suffered from schizophrenia; his later art is claimed to reflect his mental distress he was in. According to Bucknell, author of “The Colorful, Dancing, Psychedelic Cats of Louis Wain,” Countless psychiatric textbooks latch onto an iconic series of eight Wain cat portraits—four in crayon, four in gouache—as visual evidence of a mental breakdown.” This art is very different from his earlier works. These art pieces are colorful and abstract, as applied to the traditional style he used to create.
Works that inspired my project:
I was really interested in Louis’ later styles of cats. I love the use of color in these works, and all of the detail he uses. I also like how his work is a combination between realistic and abstract art. I think the Louis also is able to convey a lot of personality in his subjects. His ability to convey a personality in his cat is something I really wanted to capture, and my project is based off of my cat who definitely has a lot of personality. I also wanted to use color in my work and use my background to be abstract and resemble the style of his later work.
My GE Project
