Sunday, December 13, 2015

Cats in Art: Jacqueline Sitting With Her Cat (Picasso)

From my continuing weekly Sunday series of cats in art. I am using some ideas from the coffee table book, The Cat in Art, by Stefano Zuffi.  This is the 6th of 6 posts on the cat art of Pablo Picasso. 


Image credit WikiArt. Jacqueline Sitting With Her Cat, Pablo Picasso, 1964, medium and size unspecified; holder also unspecified.

As an aside, despite this being a known Picasso image, I was totally unable to find out its dimensions, medium, or even who owns it.  The Internet is a strange and wonderful place, and we tend to take for granted the almost instantaneous ability to derive information.  So when we can't, we feel somewhat cheated.  Sorry!

The site The Great Cat offered this observation.  The reference to Dora Maar refers to my previous Cats in Art post Dora Maar With Cat, here:

In the 1960a, Picasso painted his wife Jacqueline Roque with cats as well.  In this painting Jacqueline sits with a small black cat on her lap.  The cat's eyes are so round and large that they reflect an innocence and beauty that matches Jacqueline's.  Picasso perhaps hints that even though she is a cat, she is a kind one.  Her hands are placed on the arms of the chair just as Dora Marr's are.  However, her hands are much different than Maar's, short, stubby and almost mannish; they are not predatory like Maar's.  

I really like this painting, especially the cat's eyes....so reminiscent of our kitty Ca Beere, a petite little black cat with a bob tail and the sweetest personality ever.


Gary note: With my Cats in Arts posts, I encourage you to scope out the art appreciation site Artsy (I have no financial interest in the site, I just like it), where you can explore many aspects of the world of art.  You'll certainly be entertained and enlightened!


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