Sunday, March 18, 2018

Cats in Art: The Fruit and Vegetable Seller (Moillon)

From my continuing weekly Sunday series of cats in art.  Having moved on from Stefano Zuffi's marvelous work, The Cat in ArtI am now using some ideas from Caroline Bugler's equally impressive book, The Cat/3500 Years of the Cat in Art.  You really should check out and/or own both of these wonderful works, easily available on Amazon or eBay (and I have no financial interest).

The bride and I just returned from a wonderful vacation in France this fall where we were privileged to see both the Louvre and Orsay Museums.  Of the two, the Orsay was much better--less crowded, could get closer to the paintings, more cats.





Image credit The Athenaeum, The Fruit and Vegetable Seller, Louise Moillon, 1630, oil on canvas, 47" x 66", held by The Louvre, Paris, France.

And the kitty close-up:




Again the bride and I did not lay eyes on this actual painting.  This poor kitty would love to have been "owned" by say a fish or meat seller....but no, the mistress had to sell veggies and fruits.  Not a very thrilling lifestyle, but obviously the cat got something out of the deal.

The contrast between the women is striking: the higher society purchaser on the left, as evidenced by her fine clothing, and the common woman fruit and vegetable seller to the right.  No eye contact, just a transaction.  But the seller has the kitty, so she is the winner.


[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!]



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