Cats in Art: Kittens at Play (Desportes)

From my continuing weekly Sunday series of cats in art.  Having moved on from Stefano Zuffi's marvelous work, The Cat in Art, I am now using some ideas from Caroline Bugler's equally impressive book, The Cat/3500 Years of the Cat in Art.  

This'll be the third of several Alexandre-Francois Desportes paintings that will be featured here.

Image credit The Great Cat, Kittens at Play,  Alexandre-Francois Desportes, no other information available, held in a private collection.

Of the four kittens painted here by Desportes around 1700, the three in the front are complaining about something, or perhaps three distinct somethings.  But it's the kitty in the back--who also seems a tad needy, but not as much as its compadres--that draws my attention.

Desportes renders this adorable kitten in a manner worthy of a 2016 first-class adoption promotion.  If I were looking for a kitty, that one would be it.

Looking at the entire image, Desportes captures so well the nuances of cat bodies: the texture and pattern of the fur, the mouth, the eyes, the paws....He must have been a cat "owner."

[Gary note: With my Cats in Arts posts, I encourage you to scope out the art appreciation site Artsy (I have no financial interest in the site, I just like it), where you can explore many aspects of the world of art.  You'll certainly be entertained and enlightened!]