August 5, 1860

Louis Wain was an early and popular illustrator who used cats in his pictures.






Above is an illustration, dated to 1886 and used in a nice article on Louis Wain (August 5, 1860 to July 4, 1939), The article starts:

'Louis Wain was one of the most popular commercial illustrators in the history of England. Born in 1860, his anthropomorphic portrayals of cats captured the imagination of the Edwardian era and his work helped to elevate the profile and popularity of our feline friends to unprecedented heights. Before Wain, cats in England were often thought of with contempt but his work humanised them and helped to show them as something to be liked, admired and even loved.

'His illustrations were so popular that throughout the beginning of the twentieth-century most homes had at least one of his famous cat annuals and many nurseries had Wain posters hanging on their walls. “He made the cat his own” H.G. Wells once remarked. “He invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world.” '

The link above has lots of nice illustrations Wain did, and a lengthy account of his life.

September 21, 1866

H. G. Wells (September 21, 1866 to August 13, 1946) knew Louis Wain (August 5, 1860 to July 4, 1939). Wain was not the first artist to dress cats in human clothing. You might say the Egyptians put cats in the garb of deities. But Wain drew cats in bourgeois poses and fashion. In 1924 Wain was hospitalized in a pauper's ward because of symptoms of mental illness. When Wells found out he helped lead a campaign to gather funds to transfer Wells to a private hospital. The final choice was a genteel setting. It had a garden, Wain could be around cats, and the reports are that he and his art thrived in such surroundings. 

H. G. Wells described the contribution Louis Wain made to society. "He has made the cat his own. He invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world. English cats that do not look and live like Louis Wain cats are ashamed of themselves."