Cats in Art: Young Woman Reclining (Manet)

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).

This is the second of at least 3 posts on the art of Edouard Manet from the late 1800s.

Image credit Edouard Manet/The Complete Works, Young Woman Reclining, Edouard Manet, 1862, oil on canvas, 47" x 54", held by the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT.

And the kitty close-up:

Unlike last week's post, this woman is clothed, is presumably a "good" young woman in contrast with last week's supposed prostitute, the cat is quite visible, and the image is bright and cheery.  It's a happy scene.

The cat--which of course is my focus--comes complete with a ball of yarn (a pair, actually) and seems playful and engaging.  Manet manages to capture the cat's lively essence and freezes in oil for all time its playful movements.  

[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!]