A departure from normal here today.  Some friends recently went to near Myrtle Beach, SC, where they took several images of cat sculptures for me, knowing that I am always on the lookout for Cat art for Mister Tristan (the blog, not the 10 year old human being).

Here is what Bonnie told me:

Today we visited Brookgreen Gardens near Murrells Inlet.  It is amazing and has quite a story to go with it.  One huge part showcases the work of American Sculpters and another is all about the rice plantation and the history of the slaves working in the swamps to grow rice.  The last part is a zoo with natural habitats of animals native to the area.  There is much more, but the reason I am telling you this is that we searched everywhere we visited today for sculptures of cats.  They even had a children’s garden but not many cats.  I am sending pics of some of the works I did find (mostly big cats).

Image credit Bonnie of sculpture The Lion, Anna Hyatt Huntington, Bronze, 1930, held by Brookgreen Gardens, SC.

Image credit Bonnie of sculpture The Chant, Paul Herzel, Bronze, 1914, held by Brookgreen Gardens, SC.

Image credit Bonnie of sculpture Play, George H. Snowden, Bronze, 1934, held by Brookgreen Gardens, SC.

Don't have any real insights other than these sculptures are really nice.  I particularly like the first lion above, patiently and faithfully watching over its kingdom.

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 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 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!]

Cats in Art: Visit to Grandmother (Le Nain)

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 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.

This is post 4 of 4 on the art of the Le Nain brothers, Louis, Antoine and Mathieu.

Image credit Wikimedia Commons, Visit to Grandmother, ca 1645, Louis, Antoine and Mathieu Le Nain, oil on canvas, 22" x 30", held by The Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

And under the chair to the left, a dark, pensive kitty, lurking mysterious and unknown....the essence of catness.

This image runs counter to most of the Le Main paintings I have looked at: this one quite dark, literally.  I suspect that the darkness stems from years of hanging in smoky conditions rather than a deliberate attempt to be shrouded in shade.  

One final comments on the Le Nain Brothers, who art historians believed collaborated on many paintings.  I wonder if, say, Louis, told his brothers, "I'm the face and hands guy.  I do all the faces and hands, nobody else!"  And perhaps Antoine may have said, "I'll handle all of the bodies and the backgrounds.  I'm better at the human form, but somebody has to do the setting, so I guess that's me." And that leaves Mathieu, who may have said, "I'll handle the kitties.  I got this."

Bless Mathieu's heart.

[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!]

Cats in Art: A Peasant Family (Le Nain)

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 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.

This is post 3 of 4 on the art of the Le Main brothers, Louis, Antoine and Mathieu.

Image credit Wikimedia Commons, A Peasant Family, the Le Nain brothers, ca 1640, oil on copper, image size unspecified, held in a private collection.

This poor kitty is surrounded by 5 humans whose feet are right there, and one is even playing a musical instrument.  Enough to make any cat cringe like this one is doing.

The painting is bright and airy, the peasants depicted all appear to be healthy and fairly happy looking, so all in all a very pleasant image.  Just have to work on making that cat a tad more relaxed and confident.

[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!]