Dangerous Minds has a really fascinating article on Louis Wain, a Victorian era artist and illustrator whose primary subject was anthropomorphic cats. Art historians speculate that Wain, who spent much of his later years in and out of mental hospitals, was schizophrenic. The article highlights the relationship between Wain's descent into mental illness and the increasingly surreal (well, more so) nature of his feline art.
It's a difficult thing to delineate. For instance, these two pieces, created when Wain was considered "sane":
Are only slightly less crazy than the two following:
Alright. I admit that this last one is batshit psychedelic. It looks like a Tibetan mandala or something.
Apparently, Nick Cave (yeah!) is a big fan and collector. So is Tracy Emin (boo!). At the end of the article, there's a link for a very short film on Wain that's well worth watching.
It's a difficult thing to delineate. For instance, these two pieces, created when Wain was considered "sane":
Are only slightly less crazy than the two following:
Alright. I admit that this last one is batshit psychedelic. It looks like a Tibetan mandala or something.
But who's to say which image more clearly demonstrates a disordered mind: a kitten emanating jagged, multi-hued energy lines or a bunch of cats in top hats and monocles having a tea party on the lawn? Both are pretty weird.
I can't even tell which period this one comes from:
If you know someone with a dual passion for cats and the art of the mentally ill, you should probably tell them about Louis Wain.
1 comment:
These cats are deep in my subconscious, I think I must have had a lot of this guy's art around as a child
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