The Pampered and Playful Cat Paintings of Victorian-Era Artist Henriette Ronner-Knip

Victorians loved to pamper their cats and artists accommodated them with a frenzy of paintings, drawings, and ephemera including greeting cards. The image of the parlor cat lounging in luxury or getting into mischief became a popular one during that age which endures today.

Henriette Ronner-Knip was just such an artist. She was incredibly prolific and created some of the most beloved cat paintings of the time. Learn more about her with this brief look at a few of her paintings.

Cuddling Cats

What cat lover doesn't like to imagine that all cats get along and just want to cuddle? Ronner-Knip captured this loving spirit in much of her work.

Below are two examples - the first of two kittens and the second of a what appears to be a mother and her brood.

If these kittens turned out to be like my felines, they grew up to fight each other or tolerate one another at most. But one can dream and try to remember what they were like as kitties.

Art was in the blood for Henriette. She was born in Amsterdam in 1821, and her father, who painted mainly landscapes, encouraged his daughter's artistic talent. In fact, not only was her father her art instructor, he also instilled the discipline to succeed in a field that so many fail in.

In her early career, she concentrated on nature and animal scenes. She eventually became well known for her dog paintings. Later in life, she became fascinated with cats and began to paint them almost exclusively to the delight of cat lovers and art critics.

She completed several studies of cats and kittens.  The one below is of a kitty just waking up.

One of the artist's most popular themes was that of cats getting into trouble.

The kitties playing hide and seek in this painting at right might not seem to be too naughty. But it looks like they're messing up the fur muff (that's an old fashioned hand warmer) of a Victorian lady. Tsk, tsk!

The kittens below seem to be breaking into an artist's drawer under the stern eye of their mother. I can't quite tell if the mother cat is supposed to be approving or has decided she can't stop them.

Ronner-Knip did a series of paintings centered around cat's getting into painter's supplies as this was probably an ongoing activity around her house.

Some other playful paintings by Ronner-Knip are Tea Party With Kittens, A Basketful of Mischief Kittens and Cat, Kittens and the New Hat, Playing with Jewels, and Traveling Around the Globe With Cats and Kittens just to name a few.

The question really is how can you miss Victorian cat art? Ronner-Knip's art is widely available today in cat and kitten posters, art prints framed or not as well as greeting cards and coffee table books.

I've linked to a few of her prints at Amazon.com below, but many poster companies carry her art as well as similar work by other artists. If you're a cat lover with a fondness for Victoriana, then you'll have no problem finding just the right print for you.

Sources consulted:

• Hart, Cynthia, John Grossman, and Josephine Banks. Excerpt from Parlor Cats. VictoriasPast.com.  Accessed 2010.
  
• Henriette Ronner-Knip. Artist Biography - Rehs Galleries, Inc., 2009.