Louis Wain Fact #17:
In the 1910s, Wain and his family were struggling immensely due to a number of issues, such as copyright and paper shortages from the war, which led to a lack of demand for his work. Louis Wain had reportedly paid shopkeepers for their wares with his drawings. A fair trade, as nowadays simple sketches of his can go for hundreds of pounds.
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On loan from the Bethlem Royal Hospital, catalogued by Patricia Allderidge.
108. GINGER CAT
Coloured pencil on paper
Inscribed on verso: F. Deuxbery, Mr. Louis Wain. Sept 1931
Date: September 1931
10" x 7"
The Bethlem Royal Hospital and the Maudsley Hospital Health Authority (Guttman-Maclay Collection)
This picture was drawn at Napsbury Hospital where the previous owner, Mr Deuxbery, was one of the nurses who looked after Wain. The background is presumably an example of the 'wallpaper patterns', so-called by the staff of Napsbury: in the early 30s Wain is said to have stopped drawing cats at all for a while, and drawn only these patterns, though he soon returned to cats.