Cat Portraits: 19th-Century Instagram

A clutch of canvases on display at New York’s Bonhams auction house in advance of its May 6 sale of 19th-century European paintings should look very familiar to viewers today. The works feature languid felines and frolicking kittens engaged in activities like playing with string, crowding on top of desks, and reclining on pillows. Add LOLCat captions or an Instagram “Like” button, and the paintings would be right at home on computer screens. In fact, the second half of the 19th century begat a cat-painting renaissance. “It was a trend that snowballed,” Bonham’s Madalina Lazen says. Bourgeois collectors, interested in enhancing plush domestic interiors, bought the cat canvases. It became a good market for artists, some of whom became well known in the genre. Two under-appreciated stars of the medium are featured in the sale.

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