Cats at the Play: An Exciting Moment
Artist: Louis Wain · 1906
Cats at the Play: An Exciting Moment: high-resolution image, free to copy
The original file is hosted by Wikimedia Commons, available without payment or an account.960 × 610 pixels.
Open high-resolution image on Wikimedia CommonsLouis Wain, Raphael Tuck & Sons. Wikimedia Commons.
Free to copy. Reuse terms: Public domain. Image source and credits.
The complete story
The story About 1 minutes to read
The cat audience reacts to a tense moment, with faces turned and bodies leaning forward. The postcard catches a shared response.
The title tells us what to look for, but the image supplies the evidence: widened eyes, turned heads and cats pressed against the edge of the box. The group is more animated than in the other theatre cards.
The postcard is part of the same Tuck series. Its title turns a static audience into a narrative moment.
The image works because the viewer imagines the unseen stage. The cats' reaction is the story.
The story and its sources
Historical claims are linked to the records below. Close looking and interpretation are identified in the passage notes.
- Passage 1Article text
- Passage 2Article textWikimedia Commons: Louis Wain Cats at the play An exciting moment.jpg
- Passage 3Article textWikipedia: Louis Wain
- Passage 4Article textWikipedia: Louis Wain
Artist portrait Image credit
Unknown photographer. Image source · Public domain
About the artist
Louis Wain
5 August 1860 to 4 July 1939
Wain was a British illustrator and painter best known for his anthropomorphic cats. Born in Clerkenwell, London, he trained at the West London School of Art and taught at Camberwell before building a career in illustrated papers, children's books and postcards. His cats move through theatres, clubs, shops and family celebrations, and his later patterned images have become some of his most discussed work.
- Born
- 5 August 1860
- Died
- 4 July 1939
- Nationality
- British
- Birthplace
- Clerkenwell, London, England
- Died in
- St Albans, Hertfordshire, England
Biography sources
The research & record
Study the work.
Follow the evidence.
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The artwork record
Research catalogue
Catalogue information and detailed research, with references that link to the bibliography.
Identity and catalogue
Link- Title
- Cats at the Play: An Exciting Moment
- Artist / attribution
- Louis Wain
- Date
- 1906
- Medium and support
- Colour printed postcard after a drawing by Louis Wain
- Dimensions
- Not recorded in the source
- Culture / place
- British
- Period
- Victorian and Edwardian illustration
Read valuation records and their limitations
Subject and iconography
LinkRead valuation records and their limitations
Visual observation
The title tells us what to look for, but the image supplies the evidence: widened eyes, turned heads and cats pressed against the edge of the box. The group is more animated than in the other theatre cards.(Wikimedia Commons: Louis Wain Cats at the play An exciting moment.jpg, n.d.)
Historical context
LinkRead valuation records and their limitations
The image was published by Raphael Tuck & Sons in 1906 as a Tuck Oilette postcard, No. 9396.
Wain's cat world
LinkRead valuation records and their limitations
The postcard is part of the same Tuck series. Its title turns a static audience into a narrative moment.(Wikipedia: Louis Wain, n.d.)
Reading the image
LinkRead valuation records and their limitations
The image works because the viewer imagines the unseen stage. The cats' reaction is the story.(Wikipedia: Louis Wain, n.d.)
Details to carry with you
- Published in 1906
- Raphael Tuck & Sons, Tuck Oilette No. 9396
- Colour printed postcard
- The audience reacts to an exciting moment
Bibliography
Sources and further reading
References are arranged by author or organisation, with links to the original publications. Where no publication date is recorded, n.d. means no date.
Source notes updated .
No recorded sources match these filters. Reset the filters to see the full bibliography.
- 01
Image-record
Wikimedia Commons: Louis Wain Cats at the play An exciting moment.jpg (n.d.). Wikimedia Commons.
Citation text
- 02
Secondary
Wikipedia: Louis Wain (n.d.). Wikipedia.
Citation text
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