Cat and Kittens

c. 1872/1883

A short-haired calico cat and two kittens lie down or play with a ball of yarn in this horizontal painting. To our left, the largest cat has markings in honey brown and black over its face and along its spine, and the rest of its fur is white. Most of its body disappears behind a lace-trimmed cloth hanging along the left edge of the painting but it lies down so its chest faces us and it looks at us with piercing yellow eyes. One kitten lies in front of the larger cat so all four legs and its tail face us. It has caramel-brown, gray, and black stripes with white patches on its nose, chest, and paws. It looks off to our right with lime-green eyes. To our right, the other kitten rests up on its hind paws so its front paws are free to tangle the end of the carnation-pink yarn, which has rolled off a tidily wound ball to our left, in front of the other kitten. This kitten faces our left in profile and has white fur with flint-gray and black splotches along its spine, tail, and around its ears and eyes. The textured rug beneath the cats is straw yellow. A chestnut-brown baseboard spans the painting behind the cats, and the wall above is slate blue with stylized floral patterns in translucent white. The artist’s precise brushstrokes are especially noticeable in the cats’ fur and their shining whiskers.

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Recorded as from Connecticut. Purchased in 1948 by Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; gift to NGA, 1958.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1954

  • American Primitive Paintings from the Collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Part I, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1954, no. 56.

1957

  • American Primitive Paintings from the Collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Part II, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1957, no. 100.

1958

  • American Primitive Paintings from the Collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Springfield Art Museum, Missouri, 1958, no cat.

1968

  • The American Primitive Paintings Exhibit, organized by the Triton Musuem of Art, Santa Clara, California, for de Saisset Art Gallery, University of Santa Clara, 1968.

1976

  • American Cat-alogue: The Cat in American Folk Art, Museum of American Folk Art, New York, 1976, no. 9 (cat. by Bruce Johnson).

1978

  • The American Folk Art Tradition: Paintings from the Garbisch Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978.

  • The Amimal Kingdom in American Art, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, 1978, no. 6.

1981

  • American Naive Paintings from the Naitonal Gallery of Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, 1981-1982, no. 44, color repro. (cat. by Ronald McKnight Melvin).

1985

  • American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, traveling exh. by the International Exhibitions Foundation, Washington, 1985-1987, no. 3, color repro. on cover. First venue: Museum of American Folk Art, New York.

1988

  • La Nascita di Una Nazione: Pittori americani dalla National Gallery of Art di Washington 1730-1880, Palazzo Pepoli Campogrande, Bologna; Galleria Internazionale d'Arte Moderna di Ca'Pesaro, Venice, 1988-1989, no. 3, repro.

Bibliography

1970

  • American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 130, repro.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 269, repro.

1990

  • Journal of the American Medical Association 264, no. 21 (December 1990): color cover.

  • Garrett, Elizabeth Donaghy. At Home: The American Family 1750-1870. New York, 1990: 209, color repro.

1992

  • Chotner, Deborah, with contributions by Julie Aronson, Sarah D. Cash, and Laurie Weitzenkorn. American Naive Paintings. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 445-447, color repro. 446.

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 394, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20188746

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