Cats at the Play
Artist: Louis Wain · 1906
Cats at the Play: high-resolution image, free to copy
The original file is hosted by Wikimedia Commons, available without payment or an account.960 × 601 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
A theatre box filled with cats watches an unseen performance. The scene turns an audience into the main spectacle.
The cats are packed into the box in rows, their faces turned toward the stage. Opera glasses, fans and evening dress give the group a formal air. The dark box framing makes the audience itself the subject.
The postcard belongs to a series of theatre scenes. Wain's cats take on the roles of fashionable playgoers, complete with the props of an Edwardian night out.
The joke is one of scale and substitution. The cats behave exactly like a human audience, and the missing stage is what makes the image funny.
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.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
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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
- 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
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Subject and iconography
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Visual observation
The cats are packed into the box in rows, their faces turned toward the stage. Opera glasses, fans and evening dress give the group a formal air. The dark box framing makes the audience itself the subject.(Wikimedia Commons: Louis Wain Cats at the play.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 belongs to a series of theatre scenes. Wain's cats take on the roles of fashionable playgoers, complete with the props of an Edwardian night out.(Wikipedia: Louis Wain, n.d.)
Reading the image
LinkRead valuation records and their limitations
The joke is one of scale and substitution. The cats behave exactly like a human audience, and the missing stage is what makes the image funny.(Wikipedia: Louis Wain, n.d.)
Details to carry with you
- Published in 1906
- Raphael Tuck & Sons, Tuck Oilette No. 9396
- Colour printed postcard
- A theatre audience of cats
Bibliography
Sources and further reading
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Source notes updated .
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- 01
Image-record
Wikimedia Commons: Louis Wain Cats at the play.jpg (n.d.). Wikimedia Commons.
Citation text
- 02
Secondary
Wikipedia: Louis Wain (n.d.). Wikipedia.
Citation text
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