Louis Wain Fact #15:
Although many of Louis Wain’s illustrations are timeless classics, he was also quite a popular illustrator when it came to topical subjects. He had produced fad illustrations relating to World War I, The Harrogate sulphur-water craze, Women’s suffrage, Diabolos, the Japan-British Exhibition, the Ping Pong craze of 1903, and rarely, cat caricatures of contemporary theatre celebrities.
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The Eight 'Kaleidoscope' pictures on loan from the Bethlem Royal Hospital, catalogued by Patricia Allderidge.
General note: These pictures have been shown together in one amount for many years and were presumably arranged like this by Dr Maclay. Although it is known that he found 'some' pictures by Louis Wain in a shop in Camden Hill it is not certain how many of these were included, and nothing is known of their origin or when any of them were painted. The order in which they are seen here is entirely artificial.
107. PATTERN
Coloured pencil and paper
8 7/8" x 6 7/8"
It is debatable whether this pattern is based on a cat at all, though taken in sequence with the preceding one it seem to contain the same rudimentary shapes of ears and eyes.
(This image also appears in the book upside-down. Since there is no obvious discernible image such as a cat, it is up to the viewers interpretation which direction the image should be viewed in)