Cats in Art: Leopard (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 had 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 the fifth and I think final post on the cat art of Jean-Baptiste Oudry.

Image credit Wikimedia Commons, Leopard, Jean-Baptiste Oudry, 1741, oil on canvas, 51" x 62", held by Staatliches Museum Schwerin (State Museum Schwerin), Schwerin, Germany.

And the kitty close-up:

Oudry painted a bunch of exotic animals, and this leopard is one of the finest.  I assume that in the 1700s, zoos were being established in Europe, enabling painters like Oudry to see real critters to paint from life.

This poor leopard superficially looks fierce and threatening, but to me it's just a bluff: the cat is just plain scared, and Oudry manages to capture that emotion.

[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!]