Who's The Fairest of them All? More "Cats in Paintings", and then, "Cats in Books". For some reason or other I got into doing internet research into how cats have been depicted in paintings. Like, I have a gazillion links. But this painting by Frank Paton caught my eye because of my interest in how cats behave in response to seeing themselves in mirrors, and how cats perceive space. I've posted several YouTubes of cats and mirrors click here , and my considered verdict is that they have no idea what's up with mirrors. Nonetheless, there is something essentially true about this painting: Who's The Fairest of them All? Frank Paton ca. 1880 Quoted from wiki - Frank Paton(1855 - 1909) was an English artist of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, best known for his paintings of animals and scenes of rural life. His most famous compositions, "Fairest of Them All" and "Puss in Boots" (1880), have adorned many a wall in the form of plat...

Pierre Bonnard was a great painter of cats. But, not in an obvious way. The cats are never the focal point, if there is one single focal point in Bonnard's paintings. Of course not all Bonnard paintings have images of cats. But, hey, I'm a cat blogger! For some reason or another, I started looking for paintings of cats. There are so many. Also see here . But the Bonnard paintings captivated me, the more so the closer I looked. Apart from Bonnard's portraits of Ambroise Vollard with his cat/s, the cats are less obviously presented. But, if you look with an attuned eye, the cat is THERE, just as a cat always is. Not just "there", but often the most animated and intent being in the room. Pierre Bonnard - Ambroise Vollard with his cat (1924) Pierre Bonnard - Ambroise Vollard c. 1904-5 flickr image from Art or Idiocy? First, Ambroise Vollard the art dealer, and then on to Pierre Bonnard the painter, both important in their own ways. Ambroise Vollard has b...