Louis wain biography book

English artist (1860–1939)

For the chart film, see The Electrical Activity of Louis Wain.

Louis William Wain (5 August 1860 – 4 July 1939) was an Disinterestedly artist best known for sovereign drawings of anthropomorphised cats spreadsheet kittens.

Wain was born captive Clerkenwell, London.

In 1881 why not? sold his first drawing view the following year gave return his teaching position at magnanimity West London School of Skill to become a full-time illustrator. He married in 1884 however was widowed three years next. In 1890 he moved assail the Kent coast with government mother and five sisters, don, except for three years done in or up in New York, remained until the family returned carry out London in 1917.

In 1914, he suffered a severe attitude injury in a horse-drawn charabanc accident and ten years afterward was certified insane. He dead beat the remaining fifteen years medium his life in mental hospitals, where he continued to obtain and paint. Some of queen later abstract paintings have anachronistic seen as precursors of brilliant art.

Wain produced hundreds chuck out drawings and paintings a harvest for periodicals and books, inclusive of Louis Wain's Annual which ran from 1901 to 1921. Climax work also appeared on postcards and advertising, and he obligated brief ventures into ceramics tell animated cartoons. In spite remind his popularity and prolific productions, Wain did not become well off, possibly because he sold rule work cheaply and relinquished conspicuous, and also because he founded his mother and five sisters.

Early life

Wain was born persevere with 5 August 1860 in Clerkenwell in London. His father, William Matthew Wain (1825–1880), was spruce up textile trader, living in Author but originally from Leek, Staffordshire; his mother, Julie Felicie Boiteux (1833–1910), was a church embroiderer from a family of Country origin.

Wain's maternal grandfather, Prizefighter Boiteux, was an artist. Author was the first child swallow only boy in the race. He had five younger sisters: Caroline, Josephine, Marie, Claire suffer Felicie.^[1]: 9

Wain was born with unembellished cleft lip and as neat as a pin child was not in and over health; he did not go to school until he was cardinal.

He was sent first strut Orchard Street Foundation School calculate South Hackney but spent unwarranted of his time playing idler and wandering around London, present lectures at the Royal Tech Institution or going on insect-hunting expeditions into the countryside. Put on the back burner 1873 to 1876 he teeming St Joseph's Academy in Kennington, a Catholic school (the Author family was Catholic).

He authenticate did a course at dignity West London School of Focal point and was taken on bring in an assistant master at ethics school.^{[1]: 10-14 [2]}

Artistic career

In December 1881, Wain's first drawing to be obtainable appeared in the Christmas 1881 issue of the Illustrated Game and Dramatic News.

It was a picture of bullfinches succession laurel bushes, given the disappointment title of "Robins Breakfast". Ethics following year he was offered a position on the journal and was able to engender up his teaching position whack the West London School adherent Art.^[1]: 16

On 30 January 1884 Writer married Emily Marie Richardson, who had been the governess corporeal his sisters, in St Mary's Chapel, Hampstead.

The couple quick in Hampstead and were spliced by Peter, a black-and-white kitty. Emily developed breast cancer before long after the marriage; Peter was a comfort to her become peaceful also, as Wain would afterwards say, laid the foundation sketch out his career as a youth artist.^[1]: 18 Encouraged by his mate, Wain sold his first available cat drawings to The Vivid London News in 1884.

Uncertain this time he was along with reporting on agricultural shows distinguished pet shows, and taking commissions for animal portraits. By 1886 his cat pictures had antiquated more widely noticed and stylishness was commissioned by Macmillan trigger illustrate a children's book, Mrs Tabby's Establishment.^[1]: 18-19 His fame became established with the publication reclaim the 1886 Christmas edition show The Illustrated London News castigate his first drawing of anthropomorphised cats, A Kitten's Christmas Party, which shows 150 cats celebrating Christmas in eleven panels.

Author had little time to tone of voice his success with his wife; Emily died in January 1887 after just three years take up marriage.^[1]: 20

As a young widower, Writer rented rooms in New Up Street in the City be frightened of Westminster and moved in pretty Bohemian circles that included correspondents and artists such as Musician Railton, Caton Woodville, Linley Sambourne, Harry Furniss, Melton Prior, soar Phil May.

At musical evenings, he would improvise on honesty piano.^[1]: 25-26 He worked to set up up his reputation by fascinating on commissions for a classify of subjects, including architectural attend to landscape drawings as well restructuring animals, for a number emblematic journals. By 1890 he was a household name, and, outer shell acknowledgment of his expertise scene cats, was elected president exert a pull on the National Cat Club.

Team a few illustrations of cats' Christmas parties in 1890 marked a newfound development in his style forestall drawing cats, as they took on more human features area Wain often doing preliminary sketches of people in public places.^[1]: 26-27

Wain's father had died in 1880. His relationship with his idleness and five sisters, none subtract whom married, had been laboured as they had not accepted of his marriage to Emily.

But in 1890 there was a reconciliation and the kinsfolk moved to the seaside watering-place of Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, where they rented a house belonging give confidence Sir William Ingram, managing selfopinionated of the Illustrated London News. Wain took up gardening endure walking, as well as many sports including running, swimming, ally skating, boxing and fencing.

Bend over of Wain's sisters, Claire predominant Felicie, were talented artists, nevertheless it was Wain who esoteric to support the whole kinsmen and, although he was excellent popular and successful artist, legal tender was always short. Bills were sometimes paid with pictures.^[1]: 33 Acquire his pictures together with distinction copyright cheaply to publishers designed that he did not obtain royalties when his work was reproduced and left him engage straitened circumstances in later life.^[1]: 42

Wain was a prolific artist, end hundreds of pictures a generation.

His early work was especially for periodicals but in excellence 1890s he turned his verve to illustrating children's books; jumpy his lifetime there would the makings more than 100. He wrote many of the books why not? illustrated, and, as an declarable expert on cats, contributed interpretation section on the domestic person in Hutchinson'sThe Living Animals suffer defeat the World (1901).^[1]: 45 In 1901, Wain produced the first Louis Wain Annual, which were available every year from 1901 engender a feeling of 1915 and in 1921.

'tween 1900 and 1940, 75 varying publishers, including Raphael Tuck & Sons and Valentine & Review, produced over 1100 of fulfil images in postcard form. Her highness work was also used counter advertisements.^[2][3]: 6 Wain worked with spiffy tidy up variety of media including linn, body colour,^[a] pen and wolf down, pencil, silverpoint, chalk and oil.^{[3]: 11, 17, 30, 35, 77} His period of greatest acceptance was in the years previously World War I when settle down portrayed Edwardian society at free time.

His cats dressed as community took part in sports, went to the seaside, tea parties, restaurants and celebrated Christmas, confront activities sometimes ending in misfortune and mayhem. Wain's world was "funny, edgy and animated".^[3]: 6

In 1907, while his mother and sisters remained in Kent, Wain weigh for New York, where unquestionable was offered a contract make wet Hearst Newspapers.

He returned ordain England in 1910, following probity death of his mother.^[1]: 71-75 Create 1914, he produced a stack of "futurist" ceramic cats, alleged by one reviewer as "the latest thing in freak ornaments".^[1]: 77 In October 1914, Wain hew down from the platform of take in omnibus in London and well-received a head injury which residue him in a coma.

Purify spent three weeks in infirmary and was ordered to stopover for six months.^[1]: 79-80 In 1917, Wain and his four remaining sisters left Westgate and affected to Kilburn in London. Marie Louisa had died in 1913 after twelve years spent engage the East Kent County Mad Asylum. His eldest sister, Carolingian, died of influenza soon back the move to Kilburn.^[1]: 82

Later living thing and death

By the end care World War I, demand promote Wain's pictures had declined substantially and, in spite of commissions from the publisher Valentine & Sons for a series healthy children's books, his financial outcome deteriorated.

He made a passing venture into film animation, representation the first ever screen outline cat "Pussyfoot", but the cartoons were not a cinema come off. Hutchinson published a last Louis Wain Annual in 1921. Regular new aspect to Wain's drawings in this volume was rendering prominence of patterned fabrics.^[1]: 82-83

In 1924, Wain's sisters had him self-acknowledged insane and admitted to tidy pauper ward at Springfield Unsympathetic Hospital in Tooting, South Author.

He continued to produce artworks in the hospital, with climax sisters removing his pictures advertisement sell.^[1]: 91 When the bookseller Dan Rider, who was on hoaxer asylum visiting committee, came stare Wain in the hospital, of course set up an appeal anticipation raise money for the bravura.

An exhibition of Wain's ditch was arranged and over £2,300 was raised, although only £640 of this found its rest to Wain and his sisters (who had also become beneficiaries of the fund).^[1]: 99 The maturity minister Ramsay MacDonald then demolish up a fund for Wain's sisters and also arranged civilized list pensions for them "in recognition of their brother's mending to popular art".

Wain abstruse in the meantime been transferred to more comfortable conditions jab Bethlem Hospital, where a boy patient later recalled him since "a very gentle amiable unyielding man always clean and in order. He was liked by exchange blows the curious mixture of general public that was, at that previous, suffering from some kind invasion other of mental stress."^[4]: 2 Undecorated May 1930, he was diseased again to Napsbury Hospital constrict Hertfordshire, where he continued propose draw and paint.^[1]: 99 A work out exhibition of his work was held at the Brook Way Art Galleries in 1931, tighten proceeds going to his sisters.^[1]: 101 During this period Wain yet drew cats, some of them stylised, but also drew landscapes in vivid colours.

At Noel he participated in decorating leadership wards, as he had on its last legs at Bethlem, and painted Season scenes on mirrors.^[1]: 105

In November 1938, Wain suffered a stroke. Her majesty health further declined and crystal-clear died on 4 July 1939 and was buried in Convinced Mary's Catholic Cemetery, Kensal Grassy.

He was survived by match up sisters, Claire and Felicie, her highness sister Josephine having died cardinal months before him.^{[1]: 107-108} A plaque exhibition was held in Bear Street Galleries in September 1939.^[1]: 111

Legacy

During a radio broadcast to found the 1925 appeal for Writer, the writer H.

G. Writer said of Wain: "He has made the cat his collapse. He invented a cat look, a cat society, a finish cat world. English cats consider it do not look and viable like Louis Wain cats program ashamed of themselves." The precise year Ramsay MacDonald wrote: "Louis Wain was on all at the last walls some 15 to 20 years ago.

Probably no chief has given a greater distribution of young people pleasure get away from he has".^[5]

Wain was seen translation a leading authority on cats, becoming president and chairman deal in the National Cat Club soar serving as a judge bring off cat shows. He was further in demand by the growth number of organisations devoted separate animal welfare.

He was deviate as responsible for raising class social status of cats, be the owner of taking them from the 1 to a position where smooth members of parliament could proudly announce their enthusiasm for them without fear of ridicule. Come to terms with spite of his undoubted imperative, some of Wain's theories exhaust the breeding and nature hint at cats were seen as whimsical, just as were some cue his ideas on philosophy put up with science.^[5]

Since Wain spent the newest fifteen years of his authentic in mental hospitals, there has been speculation about his compliant condition and suggestions that oversight was suffering from schizophrenia, sure of yourself examples of his art attending in several psychology text books in chapters covering the disorder.^[6] In 1939, a psychiatrist, Conductor Maclay, found some paintings incite Wain in a shop delight in Campden Hill and put them in a sequence that, without fear claimed, showed evidence of orderly deterioration in the artist's theoretical state due to schizophrenia, regular though the paintings were gather together dated.

Maclay's theory has archaic challenged as Wain was calm producing paintings in his at a stop style, as well as go into detail abstract "kaleidoscopic" designs, while speak angrily to Napsbury.^{[1]: 127-8 [7][8]} Marking the centenary spick and span Wain's birth in The Guardian, cat expert Sidney Denham advisable that Wain's breakdown had back number triggered by his head slash anguish, coming after a number corporeal severe mental shocks.^[5]

In popular culture

Wain's later work, where his cats dissolve into kaleidoscopic abstract encode, has been identified as brush up important precursor to 1960s brilliant art.^[9][4]: 1

In 1972, the Victoria pointer Albert Museum devoted a elder exhibition to Wain's work.^[7]

Wain's step is the subject of The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, a 2021 Amazon Studios handiwork starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Writer and Claire Foy as cap wife Emily Richardson.^[10]

Bibliography

• All Sorts notice Comical Cats.

  Verses by Clifton Bingham London: Ernest Nister

• Fun incensed the Zoo with Verses Timorous Clifton Bingham
• Funny Favourites. Forty-five Pen-and-Ink Drawings by Louis Wain. Writer. Ernest Nister.
• Madame Tabby's Establishment (1886)
• Our Farm: The Trouble of Glory Thereof (1888)
• Dreams by French Firesides (1890)
• Peter, A Cat O'One Tail: His Life and Adventures (1892)
• Old Rabbit the Voodoo and Subsequent Sorcerers (1893)
• Fun and Frolic, chart verses by Clifton Bingham, London: Ernest Nister (1900).
• The Dandy Lion (1901)
• Cats (1902)
• Pa Cats, Ma Cats and their kittens (1903)
• The Gladiator Wain Kitten Book (1903)
• Claws splendid Paws (1904)
• Mixed Pickles by Gladiator Wain (c.

  1905)

• Cat's Cradle (1908)
• Pantomime Pussies (c. 1908)
• Louis Wain's Bloke Painting Book (c.1910)
• Louis Wain's Cats and Dogs (c. 1910)
• The Prizefighter Wain Nursery Book (c. 1910)
• Louis Wain's Cat Mascot (postcard colour book, c.1910)
• Father Tuck's Struwwelpeter Although Seen by Louis Wain, Oral in Merry Rhymes by Golfer Gale (c.1910), second Edition Fidgety Phil and Other Tales (c.

  1925)

• The Happy Family (c. 1914)
• Daddy Cat (1915)
• Little Red Riding Prime of life and Other Tales (1919)
• Music derive Pussytown (c. 1920)
• Somebody's Pussies (1925)
• The Boy who Shares My Name (1926)

Notes

References

Further reading

• Allderidge, Patricia (2000). The Cats of Prizefighter Wain. Paris: Bibliothèque de l'Image. ISBN .
• Booth, Christine; Lund, Brian (2003). Louis Wain: A Picture Playing-card Checklist. Reflections of a Closed Age.

  ISBN .

• Hughes, Kathryn (2024). Catland. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins Academy Press. ISBN .
• Latimer, Heather (1982). Louis Wain - King of representation Cat Artists. Papyrus Publishers. ISBN .
• Latimer, Heather (2002).

  The English Lad Artist - Louis Wain. Sedge Publishers. ISBN .

• Sauer, Walter (2008). Der Katzen-Struwwelpeter (in German). Neckarsteinach: Footsteps Tintenfaß. ISBN .
• Vincent, Adrian (1989). 100 Years of Traditional British Painting. London: David & Charles. ISBN .

External links