Sunday, November 22, 2015

Cats in Art: Crazy Woman With Cats (Picasso)

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.  This is the third of several posts on the cat art of Pablo Picasso.




Image credit Art Institute Chicago.   Crazy Woman with Cats, Pablo Picasso, 1901, oil on pulp board, 17" x 16", held by Art Institute Chicago. 

I really like this image, and of course wonder how and why Picasso came to paint this?  Was this a real scene from his life, or just a thought that popped into his head to paint?  


Regardless, even crazy people need kitties. Maybe especially crazy people.  And speaking of crazy, it seems that the Art Institute Chicago inexplicably does not currently have this painting on display.  What's up with that?


To me, the cats seem indistinct and perhaps painted thus to represent the concept of catness rather than a discrete image of a cat. 



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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