I Am Happy Because Everybody Loves Me
Artist: Louis Wain · c. 1928
I Am Happy Because Everybody Loves Me: high-resolution image, free to copy
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The complete story
The story About 2 minutes to read
A large cat face fills the sheet above a handwritten motto. The wide eyes and broad smile make the image both cheerful and slightly uncanny.
The face is built from radiating strokes and bands of colour. The inscription sits below, turning the image into a signed greeting. The cat looks directly out, so the viewer becomes the object of its declared affection.
Wain produced many cat drawings for friends, admirers and hospitals during the 1920s. This one combines a commercial illustrator's readable image with a personal motto.
The popular story that Wain's later patterns record his mental illness is not a secure diagnosis. The image can be read as an experimental design and as a friendly message without turning either into medical evidence.
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: I Am Happy Because Everybody Loves Me by Louis Wain, c. 1928.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
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Identity and catalogue
Link- Title
- I Am Happy Because Everybody Loves Me
- Artist / attribution
- Louis Wain
- Date
- c. 1928
- Medium and support
- Watercolour and ink on paper
- 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 face is built from radiating strokes and bands of colour. The inscription sits below, turning the image into a signed greeting. The cat looks directly out, so the viewer becomes the object of its declared affection.(Wikimedia Commons: I Am Happy Because Everybody Loves Me by Louis Wain, c. 1928.jpg, n.d.)
Historical context
LinkRead valuation records and their limitations
The work is dated about 1928. It belongs to the period after Wain's return from hospital care, when his cat images became bolder and more symmetrical.
Wain's cat world
LinkRead valuation records and their limitations
Wain produced many cat drawings for friends, admirers and hospitals during the 1920s. This one combines a commercial illustrator's readable image with a personal motto.(Wikipedia: Louis Wain, n.d.)
Reading the image
LinkRead valuation records and their limitations
The popular story that Wain's later patterns record his mental illness is not a secure diagnosis. The image can be read as an experimental design and as a friendly message without turning either into medical evidence.(Wikipedia: Louis Wain, n.d.)
Details to carry with you
- Dated about 1928
- Watercolour and ink on paper
- Carries the inscription I am happy because everybody loves me
- Signed Louis Wain
Bibliography
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Source notes updated .
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- 01
Image-record
Wikimedia Commons: I Am Happy Because Everybody Loves Me by Louis Wain, c. 1928.jpg (n.d.). Wikimedia Commons.
Citation text
- 02
Secondary
Wikipedia: Louis Wain (n.d.). Wikipedia.
Citation text
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