Louis Wain Exhibition
There's a touring exhibition of a few of Wain's cat pictures (loaned from the Bethlem Hospital collection.
Wain was a member of the first anti-vivisection societies, and was a gentle person who raised his sisters alone from the age of twenty. He married, but his wife died after just a few years.
In the 1930's, he became mentally disturbed and was sent to an asylum. His fans clubbed together to get him moved to Bethlem, which at the time was a far better hospital.
I'm surprised by the difference between his early and late stuff. The earlier ones are much more detailed, but his later ' kaleidoscopic' cat pictures were really exciting to look at too. He has a really nice way with fur.
Some of the pics seemed to be prints, but there were some great originals. The coloured pencil ones and the detailed pen and ink scene of a cricket match was great. :P
I saw the originals of these! Yay!
This is one of my favourites.
Awww.
Some of the pics are on the Bethlem website. It also has visiting information. The touring exhibition I went to is in Preston, in the Museum of Lancashire.
http://www.bethlemheritage.org.uk/artgallery/img15.html
(scroll right with the red arrow on the page)
In honour of the occasion, I've also scanned some pics from my falling-apart Wain book which used to belong to my grandmother. :) They're under the cut.
Ah, the perils of taking a bath....
A cat presumably regretting his high standard of literacy:
Crime doesn't pay, unless you really like chicken. Just try to make sure you don't get too fat to escape through the chimney first.
I can sympathise with this one. I think I have this expression every time I have to get out of bed, actually..
NOOOO!
He did fantastic realistic catses too.
:(
We'll finish with....
Wain was a member of the first anti-vivisection societies, and was a gentle person who raised his sisters alone from the age of twenty. He married, but his wife died after just a few years.
In the 1930's, he became mentally disturbed and was sent to an asylum. His fans clubbed together to get him moved to Bethlem, which at the time was a far better hospital.
I'm surprised by the difference between his early and late stuff. The earlier ones are much more detailed, but his later ' kaleidoscopic' cat pictures were really exciting to look at too. He has a really nice way with fur.
Some of the pics seemed to be prints, but there were some great originals. The coloured pencil ones and the detailed pen and ink scene of a cricket match was great. :P
I saw the originals of these! Yay!
This is one of my favourites.
Awww.
Some of the pics are on the Bethlem website. It also has visiting information. The touring exhibition I went to is in Preston, in the Museum of Lancashire.
http://www.bethlemheritage.org.uk/artgallery/img15.html
(scroll right with the red arrow on the page)
In honour of the occasion, I've also scanned some pics from my falling-apart Wain book which used to belong to my grandmother. :) They're under the cut.
Ah, the perils of taking a bath....
A cat presumably regretting his high standard of literacy:
Crime doesn't pay, unless you really like chicken. Just try to make sure you don't get too fat to escape through the chimney first.
I can sympathise with this one. I think I have this expression every time I have to get out of bed, actually..
NOOOO!
He did fantastic realistic catses too.
:(
We'll finish with....