Louis Wain Fact #72:
Wain was often cited as the author of “A Vagabond in New York,” a controversial newspaper column written by an anonymous Englishman in America, often being insulting and apparently Anti-American. However, Wain merely wrote in to a newspaper a few times regarding the Vagabond, and the public conflated the Vagabond’s writing and Wain’s own unrelated travels in America. This confusion would be mostly resolved when Oliver Hueffer compiled his writings in a book, coming out as the true author.
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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.
104. ELECTRIC CAT
Bodycolour on paper
8 7/8" x 6 7/8"
Although the jagged lines in this picture are not necessarily an attempt to symbolise an electric current, it may b e significant that Louis Wain held some very strange views on the subject of cats and electricity. As early as 1898, for example, he had expounded the theory that a cat's main object in washing was to complete an electrical circuit, thus generating heat and a pleasing sensation in the fur.