Louis Wain Fact #43:
Back in the day, Louis Wain's declining health was very sensationalised in the newspapers, often playing things up and including false details, which makes it quite difficult to get a clear picture. In an anonymous 1949 article in Antioch news, they claimed that Wain claimed cats had cursed him, drew “devilish and horrifying” cats, and that his doctor [cat caricature pictured] destroyed all of his later cat artwork. Needless to say, this is not true.
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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.