Cats in Art: Cat With a Kitten (Oudry)

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.  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 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.

Today is the third of at least 4 posts on the cat art of Jean-Baptiste Oudry.

Image credit The Athenaeum, Cat With a Kitten, Jean-Baptiste Oudry, 1737, size and medium unspecified, held in a private collection.

And the close up of the kitties, where I only capture the faces:

Mama cat looks eager and alert while her kitten looks a bit unsettled.  From the number of cats that Oudry painted I must assume that he "owned" cats throughout his lifetime....obviously the reason he was such a great artist.

[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!]