Louis Wain, Cat Illustrator |
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| Louis Wain was born 5th August 1860, the eldest
child of Roman Catholic parents who were employed in the textile
industry. He was what was termed a 'sickly child'. He had
a hare lip, and in his twentieth year he grew a moustache
which he kept for the rest of his life; because of this it
was hardly noticeable. |
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His first ambition was to have
a career in music for which he claims he started a career
as a violinist. He abandoned this in his mid-teens and signed
up for the West London School of Art in 1877. There he studied
until 1880 and then stayed on for a further three years
as a teacher. Wain then decided to become an artist and
left home to earn his own living.
Wain's first published drawing was 'Bullfinches on the
Laurels' featured in 'Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic
News' on 10th December 1881 under the |
| erroneous title 'Robin's Breakfast'. He then
joined the magazine on a permanent basis reporting on animal
and agricultural shows around the country. Over the next few
years, the magazine printed numerous black and white drawings
by Wain including his first sketch 'Odd Fish' in 1883, and
what was probably his earliest published cat picture 'Our
Cats: A Domestic History'. |
| In 1884 Wain fell out of favour
of his family by marrying his four sisters' governess, Emily
Richardson who was ten years older than him. This was to
be a short, tragic affair. Shortly after the wedding, Emily
developed breast cancer and died three years later. To amuse
his wife during her illness, Wain bought a kitten called
Peter which he spent hours sketching thus developing his
work.
At the time, there was little demand for cat illustrations
and his drawings were kept for private use only. Cats were
held in low esteem and it is no exaggeration to say that
today's popularity of the cat is due, in part, to Louis
Wain. |
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| In 1886, Wain was asked by Macmillans to illustrate
a children's book entitled 'Madame Tabby's Establishment'.
The results proved popular and encouraged Illustrated Sporting
and Dramatic News to ask Wain to produce a double page cat
drawing for the Christmas Issue. The result was 'A Kitten's
Christmas Party' containing over 150 cats and took Wain nearly
two weeks to complete. Almost overnight, Wain became one of
the most popular illustrators of the day. |
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As time passed, Wain's cats became
increasingly human in their behaviour and appearance. 1890
was a pivotal year, according to his biographer Rodney Dale,
when his cats began to walk on their hind legs, don fancy
neckwear, and sport monacles and walking sticks. They became
more and more uncatlike and more like naughty children. Wain
was to produce around 600 cat drawings each year in the 1890's
for books, postcards, magazines and the occasional advertisement. |
| 1890 saw Louis Wain elected as the President
of the National Cat Club. He went on to gain a somewhat undeserved
reputation as a expert in the species. Wain had a fascination
with electricity and some of his theories were bizarre. For
example, his assertion that the build-up of electricity in
cat's fur gave it a tendency to face, and even travel north,
as a magnet does! |
| Wain's career was still flourishing
in 1900. By this time he should have been a very wealthy
man indeed. Should have but wasn't. Few could be more incompetent
with money than Wain and as such, this led to his downfall.
Wain never had the confidence to negotiate the fees and
royalties he deserved. He invariably sold the rights to
his drawings, losing thousands of pounds in revenue. Thus,
Wain was always short of cash.
Between 1900 and 1910, a huge number of books appeared
with titles such as: The Louis Wain Nursery Book, The Louis
Wain |
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| Kitten Book, With Louis Wain in Fairyland.
Having Wain's name on the front cover, virtually guaranteed
high sales.
Despite phenomenal success, money troubles start to build
up. In 1907 he was sued for debt in Kent County Court and
lost. He set sail for America to avoid the scandal, intending
to be gone for no more than four months. Once in America,
he was offered a job by Hearst Newpapers drawing comic strips
and eventually stayed for over two years. He left America
following the death of his mother in early 1910. |
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Wain had hoped to make his fortunes
in America. However, he foolishly invested all his money
in a 'wonder invention' which was never developed due to
the outbreak of World War I. He returned home financially
worse off than when he left England two years earlier.
Back in England, Wain was forced to work harder than ever
to keep his head above the water. Wain's career began to
decline. War meant that he only illustrated six books between
1914 and 1918. Demand began to pick up again in the early
20's but never regained the popularity it enjoyed in the
Edwardian era. |
| Wain's reputation as an eccentric helped to
obscure the fact that his mind was failing. After the War,
his delusions became ever more bizarre. For instance, he became
convinced that his sisters were stealing his money, and that
he was surrounded by a group of spirits who were filling him
full of electricity. Eventually he became violent, actually
throwing one of his sisters down the stairs of their home
in Kilburn. The result was that on 16th June 1924, Wain was
certified insane and admitted to the pauper ward of Springfield
Hospital, Tooting, before being moved to Bethlem Royal Hospital. |
| This was not quite the end of
Wain's career. A year later, bookseller Dan Rider was visiting
the hospital and noticed Wain drawing his cats. He set about
publicising his plight, setting up the Louis Wain Fund.
In his last days, Wain was confined to his bed, almost
completely incoherent and isolated, he shouted loudly when
approached for necessary attentions. He died of kidney failure
and hardened arteries on 4th July 1939, a month before his
79th birthday. |
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| Contributed by Sonia Bryant
Information gathered from Book and Magazine Collector Article
by Kevin Nudd August 1992 No.101 and "Louis Wain The
Man Who Drew Cats" by Rodney Dale (Wain's biography)
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