Painters of Cats

Sal Meijer (1877 – 1965) SSal Meijer was born in 1877 in the Jewish neighborhood of Amsterdam. Sally (or Salomon) grew up in a diamond cutting family after the big prosperous period of diamond industry was over. When he was 13 there was nothing else for Sal to do but help his family business in their financial misery, and he … Read More

HENRIËTTE RONNER-KNIP (1821 – 1909) It was her father, Josephus Augustus Knip, who first taught Henriette basic brushstrokes. Josephus began his career working on wallpapers, but quickly left to focus on painting landscapes and animals. The parents took their children on many travels that they made to France to paint in the employ of the rich upper classes. It was … Read More

Han van Meegeren (1889-1947) The Cat Cabinet possesses a work by Han van Meegeren called “Jongen met Poes” (Child with Cat). The subject of the painting is his son Jacques van Meegeren. Note – this is a genuine original work of this Dutch painter who is mostly known as a master forger of Vermeer paintings. Van Meegeren studied Architecture under … Read More

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