Cats playing a quiet game of cards, cats at the ballet, cats having a leisurely lunch on the grass, cats boating on the river… Here are the quintessential Impressionist cats, painted with vivid, joyous colours in their favourite haunts, at their ease in various ordinary activities. With their pensive, brooding expressions, cats lend themselves perfectly to reimagining the great works of the Impressionist masters, whether strolling among Monet’s wild poppies, sitting in Mary Cassatt’s loge at the opera, or even enjoying a Sunday dance at Renoir’s Bougival. They can be charming or steeped in mute despair, vulgar or lovingly maternal, bourgeois or intellectual – but they are always Impressionist cats, caught as if by the camera, spontaneous and unprepared.
