“Afternoon at Home”
Some fanciful cat art to bring the weekend.
“Afternoon at Home” is an Indian ink, watercolor, and gouache on paper piece by the English artist and illustrator, Louis Wain. Wain created this piece sometime in the early 1900s, likely between 1900 and 1914. It was an original postcard design commissioned for Raphael Tuck & Sons, Ltd.
In this picture, Wain lovingly draws a cat tea party. There are seven cats depicted, socializing and drinking tea. The cats are anthropomorphized with big eyes, a signature of Wain’s style. As the name implies, the cats are at home, some sitting on decorated stuffed chairs, gingerly holding and sipping from their teacups. They are enjoying their afternoon tea and are dressed to the nines. All of the cats are sporting collars, usually decorated with bowties.
Wain’s cats here are all short haired. Most are striped tabbies. One cat is wearing spectacles on his face. The room is refined and fancy. A variety of art hangs on the walls. Decorative blue and red curtains hang in the back. An animal fur rug decorates the floor. Wain signed this piece twice, once on the lower left, which is faded, and once in the lower right.
Raphael Tuck & Sons was a printing company based out of London, England, that was in operation from 1866 to 1959. Postcards, like Wain’s here, were their most profitable line of products. The company’s headquarters were destroyed during the blitz on December 29th, 1940, during WWII, and they were never able to fully recover.
“Afternoon at Home” is currently in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, in London, England.
For more on Louis Wain, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
