What do you think?
Rate this book
Cat Compendium: The Worlds of Louis Wain
Louis Wain drew cats: cats playing poker, boxing, playing cricket, and doing almost any human activity. His pictures are widely available today as decorative motifs and popular prints, but in his day, the man dubbed the "Hogarth of cat life" was a celebrity who sold thousands of drawings and paintings to an insatiable public. From humble beginnings, Wain became a hugely successful popular artist, creating the Louis Wain Annual series and the first ever animated cat character, later acknowledged as the inspiration for Mickey Mouse. But after he lost his fortune, he lost his mind. He ended up in a provincial asylum, sketching psychedelic cats that were more fiend-like than feline. When his fate was discovered in 1925, the Royal Family and the Prime Minister joined a national campaign to rescue Wain. The artist never entirely recovered his health, but he was eventually moved to a better home, where he continued to draw and paint almost until his death in 1939. With a wealth of Wain's most famous drawings, as well as rare writings by and about the artist, this is an ideal book for both Wain fans and cat-lovers in general.
100 pages, Board book
First published October 1, 2001
2 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Louis Wain
101 books20 followersLouis Wain was an English artist best known for his drawings, which consistently featured anthropomorphised large-eyed cats and kittens.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 9, 2015
Any avid Louis Wain fan, as I am, will enjoy this gorgeous little book. Sixty illustrations, some of which I hadn’t previously seen with the rare article by Waim himself on ‘How I draw my cats.’ make this a n invaluable addition to a Wain bookshelf. Cat Compendium would also make a wonderful introduction to anyone who has just discovered the delights of Wain’s gung-ho, happy felines.
It could be said that Wain created his own kind of cat. Under his pen they walk on two legs, wear fashionable clothes and enjoy everyday activities such as tea parties, attending school and sports. The archetypical Wain cat has a glint in his eye and a smile on his face.
Louis Wain was born on 5th August 1860 and from an early age, planned to draw for a living and he became an art teacher. After his father’s death , he became the breadwinner by supporting his mother and five sisters. He sold his first freelance drawing in 1881 but it wasn’t of cats. Wain’s lifelong fascination with felines began after his wife, Emily, was diagnosed with breast cancer and was bedridden for the last 3 years of her life. A black and white kitten ,named Peter came into the Wain household and Louis never looked back attributing his entire career to Peter. He watched the kitten’s antics and Peter became Wain’s chief model and the first Louis Wain cat drawing appeared in print on 18th October 1884. The Louis Wain cat was born and with his increasing success Wain soon became regarded as a cat expert. He became President of the National Cat Club and spoke affectionately of cats and their beneficial effects on humans. He bacme a celebrity and it has been estimated that may have created 150,000 drawings and illustrations in his lifetime.Unfortunately, although Wain’s drawings and illustrations were enormously popular he was not a good businessman. He often gave away his rights and unscrupulous publishers too k advantage.
I didn’t know that he’d travelled to the USA in 1907 and created two successful comic strips, Grimalkin and Cats About Town. He was one of the pioneers of the strip cartoon but he invested his money in an unsuccessful business venture and returned to England as badly off as when he left. By then his mother had died and he still had to support his five sisters. Another revelation was that Wain had also been involved in a pioneering 10 minute animated film called Pussyfoot. Wain had problems with keeping up with the amount of drawings required for animation. It was released and shown but was forgotten when Felix the Cat appeared. It seems so tragic that a man who was so forward thinking was unable to capitalise on it.
In 1917, Wain’s mental health began to decline. Two of sisters had already died, Marie and Caroline, and the latter’s death affected him. He had always been eccentric but now he became physically violent towards the three remaining sisters. He was initially diagnosed with dementia which was later re-diagnosed as schizophrenia. It has been claimed that a series of colourful cat portraits demonstrate his decline into mental illness as the cats become more aggressive in appearance until they vanish into exotic patterns and kaleidoscope colours. I’ve always loved these as it’s like a game to find the cat under the richly patterned and colourful image.
In 1925, a bookseller, visited Surrey County Mental Asylum in Tooting and saw a man drawing cats. He commented on how similar they were to Louis Wain’s cats and the man replied ‘I am Louis Wain’. The visitor, Dan Rider, resolved to help Wain and enlisted several notables including H G Wells and Princess Alexandra to help raise enough funds to have Wain transferred to Bethlehem Royal Hospital and then, in 1930, to Napsbury in St Albans where he died on 4th July 1939 at 78.
It seems a tragic end for someone who gave such pleasure to millions. To some his anthromorphic cats may seem twee but to others like me they’ve always looked as if they’re having a whale of a time. Wain has fallen out of popularity but always comes back into fashion again.
I also enjoyed reading the illustrated Nine Lives, the Proverbial Life of the Cat reprinted from the Louis Wain Annual in which various proverbs and sayings are depicted such as Raining Cats and Dogs.
An entertaining little book which clearly demonstrates how Wain was regarded as ‘ the Hogarth of cat life.’ Edited by Peter Haining who also wrote the very informative biography and with rare and entertaining articles as well as 60 illustrations this book is exceptionally good value.
It could be said that Wain created his own kind of cat. Under his pen they walk on two legs, wear fashionable clothes and enjoy everyday activities such as tea parties, attending school and sports. The archetypical Wain cat has a glint in his eye and a smile on his face.
Louis Wain was born on 5th August 1860 and from an early age, planned to draw for a living and he became an art teacher. After his father’s death , he became the breadwinner by supporting his mother and five sisters. He sold his first freelance drawing in 1881 but it wasn’t of cats. Wain’s lifelong fascination with felines began after his wife, Emily, was diagnosed with breast cancer and was bedridden for the last 3 years of her life. A black and white kitten ,named Peter came into the Wain household and Louis never looked back attributing his entire career to Peter. He watched the kitten’s antics and Peter became Wain’s chief model and the first Louis Wain cat drawing appeared in print on 18th October 1884. The Louis Wain cat was born and with his increasing success Wain soon became regarded as a cat expert. He became President of the National Cat Club and spoke affectionately of cats and their beneficial effects on humans. He bacme a celebrity and it has been estimated that may have created 150,000 drawings and illustrations in his lifetime.Unfortunately, although Wain’s drawings and illustrations were enormously popular he was not a good businessman. He often gave away his rights and unscrupulous publishers too k advantage.
I didn’t know that he’d travelled to the USA in 1907 and created two successful comic strips, Grimalkin and Cats About Town. He was one of the pioneers of the strip cartoon but he invested his money in an unsuccessful business venture and returned to England as badly off as when he left. By then his mother had died and he still had to support his five sisters. Another revelation was that Wain had also been involved in a pioneering 10 minute animated film called Pussyfoot. Wain had problems with keeping up with the amount of drawings required for animation. It was released and shown but was forgotten when Felix the Cat appeared. It seems so tragic that a man who was so forward thinking was unable to capitalise on it.
In 1917, Wain’s mental health began to decline. Two of sisters had already died, Marie and Caroline, and the latter’s death affected him. He had always been eccentric but now he became physically violent towards the three remaining sisters. He was initially diagnosed with dementia which was later re-diagnosed as schizophrenia. It has been claimed that a series of colourful cat portraits demonstrate his decline into mental illness as the cats become more aggressive in appearance until they vanish into exotic patterns and kaleidoscope colours. I’ve always loved these as it’s like a game to find the cat under the richly patterned and colourful image.
In 1925, a bookseller, visited Surrey County Mental Asylum in Tooting and saw a man drawing cats. He commented on how similar they were to Louis Wain’s cats and the man replied ‘I am Louis Wain’. The visitor, Dan Rider, resolved to help Wain and enlisted several notables including H G Wells and Princess Alexandra to help raise enough funds to have Wain transferred to Bethlehem Royal Hospital and then, in 1930, to Napsbury in St Albans where he died on 4th July 1939 at 78.
It seems a tragic end for someone who gave such pleasure to millions. To some his anthromorphic cats may seem twee but to others like me they’ve always looked as if they’re having a whale of a time. Wain has fallen out of popularity but always comes back into fashion again.
I also enjoyed reading the illustrated Nine Lives, the Proverbial Life of the Cat reprinted from the Louis Wain Annual in which various proverbs and sayings are depicted such as Raining Cats and Dogs.
An entertaining little book which clearly demonstrates how Wain was regarded as ‘ the Hogarth of cat life.’ Edited by Peter Haining who also wrote the very informative biography and with rare and entertaining articles as well as 60 illustrations this book is exceptionally good value.
December 11, 2019
Louis Wain, besides being the first artist to depict animals wearing clothes and standing on two feet like humans, was also an inventor and budding musician/composer. A light read, but enjoyable.
January 26, 2020
This one jumped off the shelves and into my library bag. What a sad and strange tale (tail). I predict a resurgence of Louis Wain works this year as Benedict Cumberbatch stars in the 2020 biopic!
September 4, 2022
A lovely book though a great pity about his life and that of his sisters. Would have liked more illustrations.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews