Cats have popped up in Art throughout the centuries, my favourite artist who uses cats as inspiration has got to be Susan Herbert, I have been raving about this artist since somebody bought me the book'The Cats gallery of Art.'

Susan Herberts paintings will look familiar as they are based on well known works of Art, some of her work are paintings by the impressionists such as Renoir and Monet, of course humans have been replaced with Felines on the way.

Susan's cat Polly appears in a lot of her paintings, if Polly hasn't got the starring role in one of the paintings, she usually has a cameo role.

Both Susan and her sister were talented enough to go to Art college, but both were obsessed with Shakespeare, so off they went to Stratford-upon-avon to work in the theatre, Susan worked in the box office and her sister worked in the wardrobe dept. Susan's first exhibition was a collection of straight actors, held in the dress circle foyer.

Susan did attend the Ruskin school of Art at the age of 28, however she only stayed there for one term, realising this wasn't for her.Susan went onto London to work for the English National Opera at the London Colliseum, once again Susans work was exhibited in the foyer, only this time it was rodents attired in operatic costumes.

Susan's first book was a collection of 16 masterpieces reworked with felines (of course) these were published in 1990 under the title of 'A Cats gallery of Art' by Thames and Hudson, this book was very well received and she was encouraged to work on some more.

Here is a list of some of Susan Herberts book, you are sure to love them as much as I do.

• 'The Cats gallery of Art' (1990)
• 'Diary of a Victorian Cat' (1991)
• 'The Cats History of western Art' 1994
• 'Impressionist Cats'
• The Catropolitan opera
• Shakespeare Cats
• 'Medieval Cats'
• Pre-Raphaelite Cats'

Susan Herberts work is highly sought after they sell for anything between £750-£1,500. The originals are at Chris Beetles gallery at 10 Ryder Street, St. James, London, SW1Y 6QB.

Susans work appears in the gallery's annual Summer cat show aug1-Sept8.

To see a small sample of Susans work from some of her work books click on the links above.

 To order any of Susan Herberts books from this site simply click on the amazon button below, which will take you directly to amazon's books.

 

Cats in Fine Art See some examples of cats in fine art.

Arty Cats - Yes, the humble feline was the true inspiration for many masterpieces, click on the link to see.