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Sep 27, 2007
A "Must Read" for Louis Wain Fans
1 of 1 found this helpful Author Rodney Dale acquired his first Louis Wain picture in 1966 and wanted more information about this cat artist, who was a household name in Edwardian London. What happened next, as they say, "is history." Dale quickly discovered that no biography existed about Wain and so he began the long arduous chore of writing one. Dale's first biography of Wain was published in 1968 and entitled "Louis Wain: the Man Who Drew Cats."
This version of the book has been updated with more accurate information, colorful pictures, and printed in conjunction with the Chris Beetles Gallery. It's size and enchanting cover picture makes this the perfect coffee table book.
Wain's life, filled with success and tragedy, is fascinating, and Dale competently captures all of its aspects. Dale has arranged his information about Wain in meaningful chapters that make this book difficult to put down.
The text begins with narrative on Wain as an eccentric child, who disliked school and preferred drawings animals and roaming the ships' docks. He settled down long enough to marry his sister's governess, Emily, and lead a happy, albeit short-lived, life with her. Emily was diagnosed with cancer and to entertain her, Wain began drawing sketches of their cat, Peter, doing tricks. Emily loved the sketches and encouraged him to pursue humorous cat pictures as a career.
Almost concurrent with Emily's death, Wain's first humorous cat drawing, "A Kittens' Christmas Party" was published in 1886. With Emily gone, Wain, alone with Peter, suddenly gained instant fame. Thus he was launched into a "catty" career of developing his own style of cats, usually known as Wain Cats, that would live and dress as humans but retain their cat appearances.
The remainder of the book deals with his successes or failures, as they were then perceived to be.
Some of his successes: he served as President of the National Cat Club, worked for organizations that promoted animal kindness, especially cats, and gained fame in America. He was a major illustrator of many fine children's books, drew more cat Post Cards than any other artist, and designed his now highly regarded ceramic cats.
Some of his failures: Wain was a poor businessman and retained few copyrights. Money became a serious problem as his work was reproduced without financial gain for him. Wain suffered from a concussion in a bus accident in 1914. WWI created a paper shortage and his work lost its former appeal. Wain began to write incoherently and began to show signs of violence. He was certified insane in 1924.
Wain's remaining years were spent in mental hospitals, the first one being for paupers. As famous people and fans discovered his plight, he was eventually upgraded to Napsbury in 1930, with its serene and peaceful setting.
Wain drew his Wain Cats until the end of his life at age 79 in 1939. He never lost his artistic skills; some of his best work was done at Napsbury. Wain was a talented artist, who was largely forgotten until Dale wrote his first biography in 1968.
Since that time, there have been many exhibits of his work through the efforts of Dale, Chris Beetles, Patricia Allderidge and the Bethlem Royal Hospital plus many others. He now again has the fame he rightly deserves.
My only criticism of the book is that it has no index. However, the References & Sources are very detailed by year and are quite helpful. There is also a list of books illustrated by Wain.