Cats and pets are an old topic in art. There is probably nothing special about cats and dogs in paintings. Lions in paintings date back as early as 32,000 years ago. Therefore, the list of its portraits is long around the globe. In painting, cats became very prominent, especially in Europe in the 20th century: Klee, Picasso, Chagall, Matisse and Marc, to name a just few, have portrayed their own cats many times and additionally, in naive and decorative art, the number is not countable anymore. So it wasn’t surprisingly for me to add a portrait of my cat here too. The challenge was to make it look different despite the high level of competition.
I guess finally it became a high-quality artwork that included quotes of various famous artists like Braque, De Kooning, Mondrian and Pollock. Of course, I’m not free of such influences and paragons. But I’m so confident, that I would say this piece of art may stand for its own in a timeless manner.
The change of the naturally dark and light brown patchy fur of my Bengal cat to some slightly more prominent colors isn’t made just to catch your attention. In this way, the painting differs from most other cat images. Besides, if I would get an order, I will make a second version with a blue-colored cat in a much bigger painting one day, as it would even more highlight my intention to point to exotic elements in an original natural environment. It’s still a plan, and I’m not sure if that may work.
Anyway, the way I selected and interpreted the colors by now is well-balanced and corresponds with the dynamic and playful character of cats. Though the eye-catching yellow-orange-red colors contrast with the black and white crisscrossing nearly abstract, partly cubist, partly chaotic network of branches and limbs in the foreground as well as behind the animal, a few dominating dots (leaves and reflections) and lines (branches) mark the main structure of this composition. Black leaves appear like shadows on contrasting front lighting or colorful on the foreground, like they would be spotlighted by the warm autumn sun beams, and so they are framing the animal in its center. The scenery appears to be pure wilderness without human influence. The ideal environment for an outdoor Bengal. Bengals still have roots of wilderness in their blood. The natural environment in this setting doesn’t give any hints to human ownership or a life as a pet or animal for laboratory tests, imprisoned behind thick walls. In this painting, it appears peaceful and natural at the same time.
The scenery could also lead the viewer directly into the African bush, where it originated some 9 million years ago. Its domestication dates gradually back around 9000 years ago. Though actually, these Bengals breeding are dating back to the late 80th last century by selective breeding from wild cats.
Even though in my cat painting, its eyes appear somehow piercing by its green colors behind the branches. Furthermore, those eyes are also contrasting with its mainly red-orange corpus, and they might be focused on you. Are we sure what it detects? Wide awake, this cat is observing everything around her. Meaning: How are other creatures visualizing their environment? Do animals have a sight that is different from ours? For example, cats cannot detect red color. Others see more details at great distances and in low Light. Leading to an old question: what is art? Does culture and art make the difference between animals and humans? Are humans the only artists on earth? No answers yet…