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 second of 4 posts on the cat art of David III Ryckaert.
Image credit Artnet, A Peasant Couple at a Spinning Wheel by a Fire,
David III Ryckaert (or a follower thereof), oil on canvas, 22" x 18", holder unspecified.
And the kitty close-up, perhaps facing off against the canine over there to the right:
This painting seems routine enough: a plain couple doing regular stuff. The only actions seems to be the cat at the bottom left, who is either alarmed at something or is scampering in play. The resolution, unfortunately, is poor, but to me the cat is not looking at the dog in repose but rather seems to be looking at something past the dog and more to the front....an object that will forever remain unknown.
As for provenance of this work, I cannot seem to find any info beyond stumbling onto the image on Artnet. Perhaps it is titled differently and/or not attracted to Ryckaert. Just another example of some dead-end detective work in art history that makes my Cats in Art series so interesting (at at times frustrating!).
[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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