#beforeinternetcats

We dedicate this Caturday to Jasper the cat

In this document, multimedia artist Cyrilla Mozenter (b. 1947) describes the vibrant personality of her cat, Jasper, and how he inspired the short poem:

Sometimes I'm blue, but Jasper is always black

We dedicate this Caturday to Mimi the cat.

We dedicate this Caturday to Kitch the cat.

Feminist performance artist Schneemann (b. 1939) adorned her holiday card to her friend and fellow artist Joseph Cornell with swabs of watercolor and a photograph of her beloved cat, Kitch, who lived an impressive twenty years.

Fiber artist Lenore Tawney (1907–2007) sent dozens of mail art collages to her close friend, filmmaker Maryette Charlton. They often feature intricate layers of found media and handwritten notes. Animals, especially cats, are a frequent motif. Tawney owned a sweet cat named Pansy.

We dedicate this Caturday to Moon the cat.

Influential curator Dorothy C. Miller doted on many cats throughout her life. Her papers include several photographs of her long-haired cat, Moon. Photograph by Lyonel Feininger, 1955.

Many artists have made cats the subject of their work. This focus on felines can be traced through various sources from the Archives, including photographs, exhibition announcements, and scrapbooks. We can trace the life of an artwork, beginning with the moment of inspiration to its critical reception in the press.

Sculptor Anne Arnold (1925–2014) owned a house with a barn in Montville, Maine, where she raised farm animals such as pigs, cows, and chickens, and kept many dogs, cats, and bunnies. A few of her cats, like Christy shown here, inspired an entire exhibition in 1969 devoted to cats at the Fischbach Gallery in New York City. “What made the show so extraordinary was that their cat-ness was neither parodied nor exaggerated but presented straight, so that one had a sense of form completely filled with content,” noted one critic in a review for Art News.

Known in Chicago as the “queen of bohemian artists,” Gertrude Abercrombie (1909–1977) painted surreal landscapes, still lifes, and self-portraits layered with autobiographical references. The artist lived with many cats throughout her life and depicted them in numerous artworks. Abercrombie jotted down this list of Maine Coone cats she owned in her address book. The list tracks the cats’ names and their eventual fates. 

There are more than seventy million cats living in American households. The popular pets are considered family members. In these unassuming snapshots and personal files, cats are the center of attention—whether they like it or not. These candid records give us a glimpse into an artist’s daily activities outside of the studio, where they hang out with their friends, families, and, of course, felines.

These photographs are currently on view in our exhibit 'Before Internet Cats' http://s.si.edu/2o7sJWN

image credits:  Gathering at the New Canaan House I, designed by Marcel Breuer, in New Canaan, Connecticut, circa 1947.

Left to right: an unidentified man (holding a kitten), Joan McVitty, architect Ed Barnes, sculptor Alexander Calder, Constance Breuer, and architect Mary Barnes. One of Calder’s mobiles hangs over the group. Much of Breuer’s papers document his prolific architectural career, notably his collaborations with fellow artists and architects.

Painter Karl Wirsum (b. 1939) with his wife, Lorri, and their daughter, Ruby, with their four cats in their Chicago kitchen, May 1971.

Sculptor Paul Suttman (1933–1993), his wife, Elisse, and their cat in the pose of Piero della Francesca’s Montefeltro Altarpiece, circa 1967.