Louis Wain is a name that many people will be familiar with but many will not know why. He was born in Clerkenwell in London in 1860.
He was a frail little boy, had a cleft palate, consequently his parents were advised not to send him to school until he was 10.
The young Louis spent a lot of his time exploring his surroundings and drawing what he saw. He didn’t settle at his first school when he did eventually go there and was a constant truant, so he was sent to art school.
Upon leaving school his first job was to teach art at the West London School of Art, which he had attended as a pupil, but at the age of only 20 he had to become the head of his family as his father died unexpectedly.
He had to look after his mother and five sisters both spiritually but more onerously, financially.
Ultimately this led to him leaving teaching to become a freelance artist.
He had immediate and considerable success working with many of the primary news journals of the time painting country house and animal scenes.
He became known as one of the foremost animal painters of his time.
In 1883, he married the love of his life, his sisters’ governess, Emily Richardson, who was much older than him but she shared his love for animals. Sadly, she contracted breast cancer and died only three years into their marriage.
Wain was totally devastated. His one saviour was his wife’s favourite cat, Peter, who Wain spent a lot of time drawing and painting. He surrounded himself with more and more cats, which became the sole focus of his art.
His first painting of anthropomorphised cats was published in 1886 in The Illustrated London News and young Louis did not look back.
He became a very prolific artist of cats doing all sorts of human things. Cats playing golf, boxing, drinking, playing cards, playing musical instruments, giving speeches, etc., etc.
He was frequently producing hundreds of paintings a year.
He illustrated more 100 children’s books both under his own name and pseudonyms. From 1901 to 1915 he produced The Louis Wain Children’s Annual, which are still collected today as are his many and varied postcards and calendars.
Wain should have been wealthy from all this activity and success but none of his sisters had married and he was still responsible for supporting them all, furthermore, he was not a very competent businessman, making a number of very dubious and ultimately disastrous investments.
I’m sorry to say that by 1924 Wain was pretty much penniless and had developed severe schizophrenia and spent his last years in a number of different mental institutions, including Bethlem Hospital in Southwark.
He continued to paint his cats right to the end, but passed away in 1939.
His legacy is around us all still to this day with his humorous cats in all sorts of hilarious poses. This little painting is attributed to Wain and is of two cats in a boxing ring, surrounded by a crowd of excited cats baying for their favourite “Boxer”.
This painting is available to view and/or purchase in my art gallery in Holme Grange Craft Village. It is listed at a mere £800, a reasonable price for a work of this type.
Alternatively, we now offer a leasing arrangement, so this along with all of our paintings, can be rented for a small fixed monthly rental fee. This piece, along with many other great works, is available to view, purchase or rent at AntiqArt, the “pre-loved art” gallery at Holme Grange Craft Village or online at www.antiqart.co.uk or call us on 0118 327 5421 for further information.
