Painters of Cats

Théophile Alexandre Steinlen (1859 – 1923) Who doesn’t know the black cat, with his frayed tail and yellow eyes looking haughtily at the world? The title of the poster “Tournée du Chat Noir avec Rodolphe Salis” is probably not well-known, but one look in the eyes of this cat and no one could forget him. Who was the man behind … Read More

Ed van der Elsken (1925-1990) Ed van der Elsken saw much of the world in his travels. Of particular importance for him during these travels was to meet people – the fascinating, characteristic residents of world cities such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris and Amsterdam, as well as other locations in Africa and Japan, were the beloved subjects of his … Read More

Leonor Fini (1907-1996) Fini was a much talked-about figure in the French and international art world. In her youth she spent time in the intellectual salons of Trieste, at the time an international, cultural city where giants such as James Joyce and Italo Svevo found inspiration. But for most her life she lived and worked in Paris. She was an … Read More

Carel Willink (1900-1983) A fascinating portrait of the cat Ploe, drawn by Carel Willink. This highly detailed drawing can be found at the Cat Cabinet. A close inspection will reveal an inscription at the bottom left: “For George”. In 1919 Willink decided to become an artist, after a short while studying Architecture at the Technische Hogeschool in Delft. First he … Read More

Edouard-Marcel Sandoz (1881-1971) The Cat Cabinet has two remarkable sculptures by Edouard-Marcel Sandoz: the yellow sleeping cat and the wooden sculpture of a stately cat. The yellow statue is probably from the period when Sandoz worked with porcelain due to the scarcity of stone and bronze. Sandoz was born in Basel in 1881. He spent three years studying at the … Read More

Nicholas Tarkhoff (1871-1930) This impressionist Russian painter was born in Moscow. When he was 24, he began studying under Konstantin Korovin after being rejected from the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. When he was 28, he left for Paris to continue his studies. Soon his work was being shown in the gallery of well-known art dealer Ambroise Vollard, … Read More

Donald Brun (1909 – 1999) he recognizable and often comedic style of graphic designer Donald Brun has many fans, and so do the posters that he made for Swiss yard producer Zwicky, both of which can be seen in the Cat Cabinet. Brun, born in Switzerland, studied at the Allgemeneine Gewerbeschule while working in Basel as a graphic designer at … Read More

Kees Kelfkens (1919 – 1986) The poster “Geef een boek” (Give a book) which graphic designer Kees Kelfkens designed for the Stichting Collectieve Propaganda van het Nederlandse Boek (CPNB) has a fine place in the Cat Cabinet. This poster was the picture for the Book Week campaign of CPNB in 1958. Kees Kelfkens, full name Cornelis Johannes Kelfkens, was born … Read More

Viktor IV (1929 – 1986) A striking artist from Amsterdam: Viktor IV. Born in New York as Walter Karl Gluck, he spent a long time traveling through countries such as Mexico and Peru, working in Korea and Japan and afterward many countries in Europe before settling in 1961 in Amsterdam. In the heart of the city, on the Amstel, stood … Read More

Jean-Paul Vroom (1922-2006) In the Cat Cabinet hangs a unique silkscreen of a cat called Pompidou. The maker of this detailed work is Jean-Paul Vroom. In 1980 he produced this work of a curious cat in a wicker basket. Silkscreen was at the time known as a modern technique with which large shapes of color could be printed. Vroom developed, … Read More