Louis Wain Fact #39:
The exact number of Wain artwork out there has been unknown. In various books it has been counted at least 10,000, and in 1902 as 100,000 and 1925 as 150,000. In 1917 Fort Wayne Sentinel cited an exchange that estimated it at 200,000 to that point. That's about 20 cats a day since the publication of “A Kitten's Christmas Party.”
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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.