Louis Wain

Draw a cat. Shun realism in favor of humor. Sketch the cat dressed in human garments and displaying human mannerisms and facial expressions.

You have just created a cartoon cat. Nothing unusual in the present day but in Louis Wain's time in was quite an innovation to depict animals in this way, especially cats. Cats were still considered to be a low form of pet fit only as the company of old maids.

Louis was born in the East London district of Clerkenwell on the 5th August 1860. He was the only son and the eldest of six children of William and Felica Wain.

Not a popular child at school, and often made fun of because of his hair lip, Louis often skipped school and practiced his drawing.

Despite his lack of attendance and because of his artistic skill he was able to go on to study at the West London School of Art.

Louis must have showed up more frequently at the school of art than he did at his elementary school, because at the end of his time there he was offered a position as an assistant master.

Then in 1880 when he was age 20 his father died and the responsibility for looking after his mother and five sisters fell upon the shoulders of Louis Wain.

Emily Richardson was ten years older than Louis and employed as a governess to his younger sisters. This did not stop love developing between them, but the relationship was frowned upon by the family. Despite the disapproval the couple married on the 30th January 1884.

By this time Louis had started to earn a thin living as a freelance artist covering agricultural shows around England for the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News.

Tragically Emily developed breast cancer. To keep his wife amused during her illness Louis brought home a black and white kitten named Peter. To further entertain Emily he made some sketches of the kitten for her and she urged him to submit the drawings for publication.

Eventually some cat drawings were accepted by the Lady's Pictorial and the Macmillan Press commissioned Louis to illustrate their new book for children Madame Tabby's Establishment.

The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News then paid the budding cat artist to create a double page cat spread for their Christmas issue, this was a huge success. Sadly Emily passed away soon after.

Louis produced about 600 drawings of cats each year of the 1890's, which were published in books and magazines. He also produced a few illustrations for advertisements. He humanized his feline subjects more and more, depicting them smoking cigars, drinking whiskey, dancing waltzes, playing musical instruments and wearing increasingly elaborate human clothing.

In 1890 Louis was elected as President and Show Manager of the National Cat Club, he also acted as Judge and designed their logo which they still use today.

Louis was an artist and looked at the world with an artist eye, not with the eye of a bookkeeper. The artist did not pay too much attention to the royalties he received from his works and sometimes even sold the rights outright to his illustrations. He ran up debts and to clear these he often paid his creditors with drawings of their own cats.

The artist started to draw his cats in a less cute style, often portraying the felines as a pattern of brightly colored shapes. His later works were psychedelic in effect and the cat had often all but disappeared from the picture.

The craze for cats that Louis had helped to start went on the decline around WW1, and earning an income became difficult for the man who never bothered much about royalties. After suffering concussion as a result of being thrown from a horse bus, Louis got the notion that his sisters were stealing his money. This belief resulted in a series of arguments and during one of these quarrels the man who drew cats threw one of his sisters down a flight of stairs.

In June 1924 Louis Wain was declared to be insane and admitted to Springfield Hospital, Tooting, South London (The Surrey Pauper Lunatic Asylum). He continued to draw cats.

Eventually his situation was discovered by someone with influence. Ramsay McDonald, the Prime Minister, the King, and the author H. G. Wells set up a fund in aid of Louis. H.G. Wells even made an appeal on the BBC. Enough money was raised to pay for care in a more comfortable asylum.

Louis Wain passed away on the 4th July 1939, shortly before his 79th birthday.

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