Louis Wain

 

Cartoon by Mark Antony Raines inspired by Louis Wain 

Louis Wain
To many who may be reading this article he may be just an old victorian who had a thing about drawing cats with human characteristics but his story is one of tragedy and ending up poor due to not copyrighting his content.
If you are among the millions who owned a cat it's probably down to Louis Wain making them popular.
During Victorian and Edwardian cats were just kept to get rid of rats and mice and often feral and the thought of pampering them seemed distinctively odd.
In Wain s own words
" to wipe out ,once and all ,the contempt in which the cat has been held in thus country ".
Born in 1860  the only boy to five sisters, After the death of his father he found love with the family governess Emily Richardson  and was she encouraged the love of animals.
His mother and sisters did not attend the wedding as thier disapproval of the nuptials.
Wain was a highly regarded artist whose engraving were used in the newspaper s of the time as photographs were much later.
In 1883 Emily and Louis took in a stray black and white cat whom thier named Peter,they found Peter meowing outside their house.
After a few months poor Emily discovered  she had breast cancer and it was Peter that kept them going.
Peter was doted on he was trained to wear spectacles, play dead,hold a postcard, Wain  started to sketch Peter whom he used the phrase "the household god".
Wain went on to create a can of cat universe were cats were depicted doing human like activities as if part of the society.
They had personalities, went to dance s,rode bikes,swam the sea each inspired as Louis Wain sat in public place s furtively sketching people around him.
He even did Winston Churchill as a cat.
His big break came he issued a book of 150 of humanoid cats called
"A KITTENS CHRISTMAS PARTY "
This shoot Louis Wain to frame but tragedy hit when his wife Emily died .
During the late 1880s to the outbreak of World War One his cats appeared in prints,books ,postcards.
In his lifetime he became president of National Cat Club and he used this platform to champion cats wellbeing as families began adoption of cat's.
Despite his fame his lack of Business savy he failed to copyright his images and got no royalties.
His cat Peter was 15 years old caused a decline he died in June 1924 penniless and committed to a paupers ward of a psychiatric hospital in Surrey.
Among his delusion s  he believed cat fur generated electricity and animals habitually faced North due to Magnetic forces.
If you interested a new film has been made about his life called.
"THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN (PG) is due for release in 2022.
In which Benedict Cumberbatch plays this near forgotten artist.
So next time your cat comes beside you fir a cuddle please remember the name Louis Wain.