Pre-Raphaelite Cats

by Susan Herbert

Feline versions of famous paintings abound in this quirky, fun-loving homage to the Pre-Raphaelite painters, featuring kitty incursions into the work of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ford Madox Brown, William Holman Hunt, and others.

Genres: Art, Cats, Animals, Pre Raphaelite, Nonfiction, Humor, Art History

64 pages, Hardcover

First published September 6, 1999

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

it’s cats and pre-raphaelite art what more could you want?

[Sarah AF · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly the best gift my boyfriend has ever bought for me. ❤️

My favourite period of art + my favourite animal = what's not to love?

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

***Some influenced materials mentioned may be more suited for adult readers***

A book that explores versions of Pre-Raphaelite art by replacing the humans with cats and in one piece a companion cat with a giant mouse.

The book provides each spread with a text page, which includes the title of the piece, where the idea originally came from and a bit of text whether from another source that may have inspired it like Shakespeare or a historical blurb about what may be occurring or just some facts if there is no influence from outside the piece.

And as for the pieces they are mostly copied rather decently although less brightly and with not as much color choices as some of the originals. In one piece colors were flipped around Beata Beatrix for the items in her paws while I think it was to offset the color of the newly included tail. A mouse was removed from the scene Mariana and a bird was added to La Ghirlandata while other small changes also could be found in a few other pieces. But the one that seems noticeable was Ophelia as
the author attempted to keep most of the background rather pretty much the same but the lotus flowers didn't seem to make the cut.

None of the pieces include any sort of nudity but since some are influenced by darker themes of various death modes, implied trade of sexual favors and other such topics the book should be approved by adults before being passed on to younger readers.

All in all it was rather a decent book of remakes but not one I will be returning to for my art needs but rather a pass-on book

[Iryna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Важко пояснити, чому я так люблю книги Сюзан Герберт. Стиль її ілюстрацій доволі простий, але впізнаваний. Тема котиків наче вже багатьом набила оскому. Але ну, камон, хіба котики можуть набриднути любителю котиків? А тут ще й на додачу прекрасні стилізації, які цікаво розглядати, згадувати оригінальні картини, шукати подібне та відмінне. Для моєї бібліотеки це однозначно цінне надбання.

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute.

[Lucinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

My PhD topic and my fav'pets
What else?

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sooooo cute, gives a brief description of every artwork.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute.

(Also, I'm embarrassed to admit this but the pre-Raphaelites are such a big blindspot for me that I learned something about art history too.)

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love cats? Like art? I've got the book for you. Susan Herbert's Pre-Raphaelite Cats is quite cute and charming. Inspired by the Pre-Raphaelites, she has recreated thirty pieces of art so that they now star cats. On the cover, is her "The Awakening Conscience." Short descriptions of each piece of artwork is included. Interested in seeing the originals? Don't mind squinting? You'll love the tiny black-and-white reproductions of the originals. (It would be hard to fit pictures of all thirty paintings in one spread, I admit.)

The pieces of art:
Flora, after Evelyn de Morgan
Pet, after Walter Howell Deverell
Beata Beatrix, after Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Claudio and Isabella, after William Holman Hunt
Ecce Ancilla Domini, after Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Home From Sea, after Arthur Hughes
Isabella and the Pot of Basil, after William Holman Hunt
King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid, after Sir Edward Burne-Jones
La Ghirlandata, after Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Mariana, after Sir John Everett Millais
Musica, after Kate Elizabeth Bunce,
Medea, after Frederick Sandys
Monna Vanna, after Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Ophelia, after John William Waterhouse
Princes in the Tower, after Sir John Everett Millais
Psyche, after John William Waterhouse
Regina Cordium, after Dante Gabriel Rossetti
The Sleeping Princess, after Sir Edward Burne-Jones
The Awakening Conscience, after William Holman Hunt
The Black Brunswicker, after Sir John Everett Millais
The Blind Girl, after Sir John Everett Millais
The Bower Meadow, after Dante Gabriel Rossetti
The Daydream, after Dante Gabriel Rossetti
The Golden Stairs, after Sir Edward Burne-Jones
The Huguenot, after Sir John Everett Millais
The Light of the World, after William Holman Hunt
The Mirror of Venus, after Sir Edward Burne-Jones
The Long Engagement, after Arthur Hughes
The Proscribed Royalist, after Sir John Everett Millais
Veronica Veronese, after Dante Gabriel Rossetti

If I had to choose a few favorites? Well, I love The Mirror of Venus, The Proscribed Royalist, The Long Engagement, The Princes in the Tower, and Isabella and the Pot of Basil.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Susan Herbert is an artist who specializes in cats. She has done at least two other books like this that I know of - "Shakespeare Cats" and "Movie Cats." She has taken well-known Pre-Raphaelite works of art - "Flora" by Evelyn de Morgan, "Home from Sea" by Arthur Hughes, "Ophelia" by John William Waterhouse, etc. - and recast them with cats. It is not as silly as it sounds. The paintings are lovely and well done. I enjoyed looking at Herbert's versions and comparing them to the originals. A fun book for cat lovers and art lovers alike (and those of us who are both).

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightfully hilarious, both for fans of Pre-Raphaelite art and those who just love pictures of cats. The fan of both, however, will get a special kick out of this book. The detail to which the artist went is entertaining....replacing figures in stained glass windows with cats, cherubs on a mantle clock with cats, etc.

I was especially tickled to see a black cat in one artwork. (I am biased, having a black cat of my own)

[Bonnie Staughton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pre-Raphaelite Cats is a cute little book which I purchased after going to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC and seeing the actual pre-raphaelite art exhibit. Susan Herbert takes many of the pictures and puts cats in the pictures to represent the people in the original art work. The last page has the original paintings. Great book for those who love cats and would like to see them in a
portrait setting.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you have a friend that loves cats or that watches all those cat videos on youtube? If so then this is for them. It is an easy read, more pictures than anything. The inspirations are based upon real paintings and the cat artwork is fabulous and definitely entertaining. I wish they made posters of the cat art.

I received this book free from goodreads.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book on my honeymoon last year in DC when visiting the Smithsonian. There was a fantastic exhibit on Pre-Raphaelites and this was just the best souvenir. Highly recommended to cat-loving art historians.

[Lesley Shears · Rating 3 out of 5]

just beautiful

[Kayt18 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for anyone that loves cats or art!! I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads

[Xanthi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like that the original paintings were included in the back of the book, to compare these catified ones with, as I was familiar with some but not all the originals.