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.
103. ORIENTAL CAT PATTERN WITH ROUND EYES
Bodycolour on paper
8 7/8" x 6 7/8"
The three bodycolour designs, and to a lesser extent the two in coloured pencil, are reminiscent of late nineteenth century textile designs. Wain's grandfather had been a silk manufacturer, his father was a traveller for a firm of drapers, and his mother designed church fabrics, so this association is probably not fanciful.