Well, about a dozen readers sent me information about the sale of the world’s largest (and said to be “greatest”) painting of cats, auctioned off this week at well above the estimated price. It is, as Philomena would say, it’s “YOUJE”, was painted by Carl Kahler , and is called “My Wife’s Lovers”. The “lovers,” though, weren’t human: you can guess what they were.
I’ll let The Smithsonian give you the information, from a piece written by Erin Blakemore:
The painting, which Kahler completed in the early 1890s, stands roughly six feet wide and eight-and-a-half feet tall. It features 42 Turkish Angora cats as they pose and play inside a luxurious home, surrounded by precious art and antiques.
Who would commission such an incredible a piece of art? It was none other than Kate Birdsall Johnson, a San Francisco philanthropist and one of history’s greatest cat ladies. Johnson had more than 50 “lovers”—her husband’s ironic nickname for the pets—and lived in luxury at a so-called “cat ranch” in California. Her feline friends were well heeled, to say the least, and had their own full-time staff. Johnson was known to pay thousands of dollars for an individual cat and even bought pet birds to amuse her furry darlings.
When Johnson died, according to legend, she willed a large sum of money to her cats so they would continue to live in luxury. A Sotheby’s release claims that her will set aside $500,000 to guarantee the cats’ perpetual care, but the actual document contains no reference to cats or other animals. She was certainly generous, though: Johnson’s will established a free hospital with some of her riches.
Feline trust fund aside, one thing is clear: Johnson wasn’t the only cat lover allured by Kahler’s painting. A year after it attracted big attention at the Chicago World’s Fair, it was sold at public auction. After it barely survived the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, My Wife’s Lovers became a national sensation in the 1940s, gaining a reputation as “the world’s greatest painting of cats.” On November 3, an anonymous buyer spent nearly a million dollars to snag it. Johnson’s fluffy friends would probably approve of the purchase.
Bored Panda is a reliable source of feline humor, and this week it features “20+ cats who immediately regretted their poor life choices.” (Readers have added over 80 other photos!). The reader who sent the link noted “I like 5, 14 and the look of desperation on 15”, so I’ll put those up first
#5:
#14 (also with a look of desperation):
#15:
Here are three favorites of mine, but all the others are good, so go see them.
From Amber Dekker, apparently in the Netherlands, who labels this photo: “Sanne gooit gewoon de kat knock-out!” (Translation, please?)
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Finally, here’s a great cat cartoon:
h/t: Taskin, Cindy, Blue, Grania and all the others.
