3-077-787 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

My Noble Kinsman, 1890. Domestic cat with rug made from a tiger's skin. Eccentric British illustrator Louis Wain (1860-1939) is best known for his anthropomorphised cats and kittens. In 1914, he suffered a severe head injury in a horse-drawn omnibus accident and ten years later was certified insane. He spent the remaining years of his life in mental hospitals, where he continued to draw and paint. Some of his later abstract paintings have been seen as precursors of psychedelic art. Despite his prolific output - he produced hundreds of drawings and paintings a year for periodicals and books - Wain did not become wealthy, possibly because he sold his work cheaply and relinquished copyright, and also because he supported his mother and five sisters financially. From "Illustrated London News", 1890.