Sunday, February 3, 2013

Cats in Art: Ete, Chat Sur une Balustrade (Steinlen)


From my continuing weekly Sunday series of cats in art. I am using some ideas from the coffee table book, The Cat in Art, by Stefano Zuffi.

I am currently featuring 4 installments of the art of Theophile Alexandre Steinlen--this is 3 of 4:




Image credit WikiGalleryEte, Chat sur une Balustrade, 1909, [Summer, Cat on a Railing] T. A. Steinlen, 1894, oil on canvas. Held by Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX.

This poor kitty appears annoyed, although that word seems not quite strong enough.  In life, the tail would undoubtedly be swishing vigorously.  Were you dumb enough to venture over to the railing to try to pet said cat, your punishment would be quick and sure.

I like how Steinlen captures the general essence of catness here--I can well imagine this same painting being of a leopard lounging on a tree limb in Africa.

 

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