Weird, Wonderful, Whimsical Black Cats

Sixteen years of blogging and years of Black Cat Awareness Month means I’ve run out of ways to reinvent the wheel. So this year I went digging through my archives and found some unexpected gold, some never seen before plus a few things I’ve rejiggered and made new.

I’m also sharing a new picture book that’s too cute not to include, and I’ll link to the author below. No big essay, just a fun wander through some black cat treasure.

 

It’s no surprise that some of the most famous writers and artists loved black cats and that included Henri Matisse.
( Fun fact:I was an art history, major, and I share the same birthday with Matisse).

 

And because if you’re like me, you can never get enough of the inspirational beauty and mystery of black cats.

 

 

We often think of anthropomorphic cat art Thanks to the huge success of Louis WAIN, but there were many others particularly in the early part of the 20th century.

This vintage illustration of a black cat called Saucy Puss was created by Frances Brundage. She was a prolific illustrator known for her charming imagery, particularly of cats and children.

Another prolific artist of cats was Arthur Thiele, a German artist. Artists for millennia have always influenced each other generations later.
these days it can be something digitally enhanced or a funny meme.

 

 

There was a huge amount of postcards popular in England about cute black cats, and how lucky they are. Many of the artists who worked for the large publishers were not attributed so I can’t say for certain if it is Wain or not.

 

 

They go a long way to dispel a lot of the unlucky myths about a black cats.

I love seeing vintage images of children with black cats, particularly boys. We’ve come a long way in terms of gender disparity among cat lovers. Images like these proof, there have always been black cat lovers of all stripes.

 

 

 

For as long as there’s been graffiti, there have been public displays of black cats. This one is from Paris, but they’ve been found all over the world, including some imaginary ones.

 

 

It would be great if every building had a black cat or two.

 

 

The truth is black cats are everywhere On every surface, product and space imaginable and that includes skin. Tattoos of cats have increased in popularity especially tattoos of a memorial tattoos of beloved cats.

 

 

I’ve certainly created my own black cat related memes over the years and every day someone makes more. And while we are now for better or worse living in the age of AI, I have more and more appreciation for artists who use their hands, heads and hearts and not machines.

 

I love vintage book cover art. Every era has its own flavor and it’s always a joy to find something new.

I love this book cover, which is classic and yet modern in a timeless way.

The Cat Whose Whiskers Slipped
Campbell, Ruth; Ve Elizabeth Cadie (Illustrator)
Published by P. F. Volland Co., Jolliet, 1925.

 

Today we have more cat books than ever and I’m not crazy to see so much. In my scroll through my archives, I came across a book cover that I designed years ago for a series that never happened. But now I am tempted to revisit the idea.

 

 

There’s always so much to be gleaned from the past and re-create it for something entirely new.

 

Which brings me to a new artist, an author that I’ve discovered, and can’t wait to share with you.

Emily Krill is a Pittsburgh based artist who works in a unique style of collage. She has a new picture book out. It’s simple and sweet and every cat lover can relate to it from age 3 to 103.

 

 

She’s been working on a series of fine cat art with a black cat blinged out gold.my fine art where she creates collages of one-of-a-kind cats from antique paper.

The adorable cats are also available as prints in small white shadowbox frames. Learn more at Emily Krill

 

 

It’s fun to explore the black cat world, but awareness is our why.

It’s your turn to fill in the blanks and change the narrative. Let me know with your comments how you feel about black cats.