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Why Cats Paint: A Theory of Feline Aesthetics
In 1994, Why Cats Paint took the art world and animal world by storm with its unprecedented photographic record of cat creativity. Those seminal books in feline aesthetics are now offered in new pocket-size editions filled with the best from each volume, making purrfect gifts for cat lovers and art lovers alike.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
December 24, 2012
I had somehow never come across this standard reference on cat aesthetics, and I must admit that my critical standards were deplorably low. But having read Busch and Silver's excellent text, I am better informed. I advise you not to get me started, or I will bore you for hours explaining why Inframice:
a starkly minimalist installation in recently-living composites, is a work of genius, while Orifice 3:
a typical example of the popular "scratches on upholstery" technique, is a tame, derivative piece of no value whatsoever. You have been warned.
a starkly minimalist installation in recently-living composites, is a work of genius, while Orifice 3:
a typical example of the popular "scratches on upholstery" technique, is a tame, derivative piece of no value whatsoever. You have been warned.
November 9, 2013
I know one of the cats featured in this book personally. I am glad to say that fame has not gone to her head.
April 2, 2022
Interesting, entertaining book about cats in all their glory.
January 26, 2021
Amazingly wonderful. The book has a sort of hallucinatory shimmer -- you won't know, and likely will *never* know, whether cats really paint. I *think* some do.... I should pull out my copy and write a full review. Actually, you can just go to Hanna's, with sample photos: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just added to my "100 Best Ever" list, as a spur to pull it out for reread!
Here's my review of the companion volume, equally good, WHY PAINT CATS: https://www.sfsite.com/04b/wp150.htm Both must-read/views, for cat-lovers! 🙀 😻 ❤️
Just added to my "100 Best Ever" list, as a spur to pull it out for reread!
Here's my review of the companion volume, equally good, WHY PAINT CATS: https://www.sfsite.com/04b/wp150.htm Both must-read/views, for cat-lovers! 🙀 😻 ❤️
August 30, 2014
Wonderful, erudite, and potentially side-splitting exposition on the world of cat art. The authors provide historical context (back to the Egyptians, of course), then move through the ages to the present day to provide "moving" portraits of several international feline "artistes". These young (and some retired) tabbies are shown with their artwork, in the act of creation, their paws at the ready, paint trays at their feet. These individuals are linked to human schools (!?!)
For the serious minded, a theory of feline art is provided. The only thing that would dim the brightness of this book would be to learn that it is indeed serious!
For the serious minded, a theory of feline art is provided. The only thing that would dim the brightness of this book would be to learn that it is indeed serious!
August 25, 2016
Do cats paint? Well maybe. I've known some strange and quirky cats in my time. The father of one of my smartest cats trained himself to use the toilet. He was a big, much-decorated champion Sealpoint Siamese. I once accidentally walked in on Tom in the bathroom, perched on the toilet seat; faced with his huge, indignant blue eyes, I backed out quickly, instinctively saying 'Oh, I'm so sorry!!'
I suspect the four-pawed Twelve Major Artists might have had a little help from their two-legged gallery managers, however there is no doubt that Heather Busch and Burton Silver are among the most talented cat photographers and cat interpreters of this generation.
Cat love aside, it is as commentary on the contemporary human art world that Why Cats Paint: A theory of feline aesthetics really shines.
For example, let's take this fine, ground-breaking (or perhaps, fiber-breaking) 20th Century work from Nebraska-born, Paris-based Homo sapiens artist, Sheila Hicks:
Art in America, reviewing her 2011 Philadelphia ICA retrospective writes:
"The largest pieces can be arranged in a variety of configurations, depending on the architectural context, while smaller works possess a cannily unfinished look, as though they are self-destructing in loose threads and open crevices. Throughout, one senses the process-based milieu of '60s Post-Minimalism in which the artist came of age. The amorphous-seeming mound of compacted saffron-colored linen and wool in Banisteriopsis (1965–66)[that's the one in the picture], for example, has affinities with contemporary works by Eva Hesse—who attended Yale, like Hicks, in the '60s."
Fortunately, Busch and Silver transcend not only educational, cultural and national biases; their insightful commentary makes the works of contemporary Felis domesticus artists accessible to all of us. While they concentrate their review on Felis domesticus masters who work in paint, they pay due homage to other artists, who like Hicks and Hesse, choose to work in fibers--even if they have not attended Yale.
Consider this form of feline artistic expression, 'Orifice 3':
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About such minor masterpieces, Busch and Silver note that the 'widespread domestic use of upholstered furniture from the turn of the century on, has had a profound effect on the development of the feline aesthetic.' Deconstructive techniques using furniture enable the feline artist to create interactive performance works in which the structure is 'progressively degraded in a controlled manner over a long period of time.'
As I pointed out to Manny, whose preference for the Minimalists is well known: Both feline and human fiber art must be seen and understood within the context of a particular cultural milieu, and as part of an aesthetic sense that is clearly in rebellion against gender- and class-based behavioral strictures.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The works of the minor feline deconstructionist school are still affordable for most of us, even though the work of major feline artists, such as Rusty, a well known Psychometric Impressionist, are beyond the reach of all but the wealthiest collectors. Still, we can enjoy them from afar. To my mind, Rusty's work is perhaps the most accessible of the modern masters:
'Like most Psychometric Impressionists, Rusty prefers to work on glass so he can keep in constant touch with the object and allow the essence of its 'significant past' to pervade his sensibilities as he paints.'
I am convinced that Rusty's masterpiece, Blue Bike Blues, might well rank with Jackson Pollock's Moby Dick!
I suspect the four-pawed Twelve Major Artists might have had a little help from their two-legged gallery managers, however there is no doubt that Heather Busch and Burton Silver are among the most talented cat photographers and cat interpreters of this generation.
Cat love aside, it is as commentary on the contemporary human art world that Why Cats Paint: A theory of feline aesthetics really shines.
For example, let's take this fine, ground-breaking (or perhaps, fiber-breaking) 20th Century work from Nebraska-born, Paris-based Homo sapiens artist, Sheila Hicks:
Art in America, reviewing her 2011 Philadelphia ICA retrospective writes:
"The largest pieces can be arranged in a variety of configurations, depending on the architectural context, while smaller works possess a cannily unfinished look, as though they are self-destructing in loose threads and open crevices. Throughout, one senses the process-based milieu of '60s Post-Minimalism in which the artist came of age. The amorphous-seeming mound of compacted saffron-colored linen and wool in Banisteriopsis (1965–66)[that's the one in the picture], for example, has affinities with contemporary works by Eva Hesse—who attended Yale, like Hicks, in the '60s."
Fortunately, Busch and Silver transcend not only educational, cultural and national biases; their insightful commentary makes the works of contemporary Felis domesticus artists accessible to all of us. While they concentrate their review on Felis domesticus masters who work in paint, they pay due homage to other artists, who like Hicks and Hesse, choose to work in fibers--even if they have not attended Yale.
Consider this form of feline artistic expression, 'Orifice 3':
[image error]
">About such minor masterpieces, Busch and Silver note that the 'widespread domestic use of upholstered furniture from the turn of the century on, has had a profound effect on the development of the feline aesthetic.' Deconstructive techniques using furniture enable the feline artist to create interactive performance works in which the structure is 'progressively degraded in a controlled manner over a long period of time.'
As I pointed out to Manny, whose preference for the Minimalists is well known: Both feline and human fiber art must be seen and understood within the context of a particular cultural milieu, and as part of an aesthetic sense that is clearly in rebellion against gender- and class-based behavioral strictures.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The works of the minor feline deconstructionist school are still affordable for most of us, even though the work of major feline artists, such as Rusty, a well known Psychometric Impressionist, are beyond the reach of all but the wealthiest collectors. Still, we can enjoy them from afar. To my mind, Rusty's work is perhaps the most accessible of the modern masters:
'Like most Psychometric Impressionists, Rusty prefers to work on glass so he can keep in constant touch with the object and allow the essence of its 'significant past' to pervade his sensibilities as he paints.'
I am convinced that Rusty's masterpiece, Blue Bike Blues, might well rank with Jackson Pollock's Moby Dick!
August 16, 2021
This is a book that must be shared. It's too clever and fun not to, and folk will want to know why you suddenly burst out laughing while reading it! What a fabulous way to learn art theory, especially for cat lovers.
Bootsie, Trans-Expressionist is my personal favorite. "Bootsie, (b. 1988), uses a vigorous, sometimes aggressive style to explore his inner feelings and perceptions." I love the description of how he puts paint on canvas with vigorous and rhythmic strokes, while displaying a high level of engagement by either purring or even yowling "menacingly at the canvas."
Bootsie, Trans-Expressionist is my personal favorite. "Bootsie, (b. 1988), uses a vigorous, sometimes aggressive style to explore his inner feelings and perceptions." I love the description of how he puts paint on canvas with vigorous and rhythmic strokes, while displaying a high level of engagement by either purring or even yowling "menacingly at the canvas."
March 25, 2007
I'm almost hesitant to say that Why Cats Paint is satire, because a big part of the fun of this book is wondering whether or not these authors are serious. It's done so straight-faced a) it took me a thorough examination before I was convinced it was a joke, and b) the Strand Bookstore shelves it in the Art Department (I'm told the Oberlin College library does, too). A hilarious crack on both cat people & art snobs.
August 27, 2022
High production value reference or coffee table book for all those interested in artistic cats, a feline theory of aesthetics, or appreciating the talents of resourceful creatures without opposable thumbs. The range of talents showcased is impressive.
Why cats paint remains an answered question, but this clever volume offers "art-speak" insight into an array of cat artists, and profiles their works and sources of inspiration. We may be driven to conclude that cats become artists to make sense of their world . . . but perhaps I'm reading too much into it.
Why cats paint remains an answered question, but this clever volume offers "art-speak" insight into an array of cat artists, and profiles their works and sources of inspiration. We may be driven to conclude that cats become artists to make sense of their world . . . but perhaps I'm reading too much into it.
February 3, 2018
Clever faux exposition on art theory. (Cats, for the record, favor abstract expressionism.) While it's the striking photos of cats 'painting' that initially catch the readers attention, the tongue-in-cheek text that explains in mock seriousness feline aesthetics had me guffawing. Anyone who's yawned over pretentious art criticism will readily see what is being lampooned.
(Reread in February 2018 prior to giving away this book to a friend.
(Reread in February 2018 prior to giving away this book to a friend.
May 28, 2021
This is one of the best satires on modern art that I've ever read. The authors use the exact same pretentious language to describe "Fluffy's" efforts at filling space with his marks that I've read in so many books on modern artists. The only thing they left out was political correctness. I guess cats aren't interested in Social Justice, Sexual Orientation or Racial Identity.
I guess because the authors never wink throughout the book, some people take it seriously. They don't ask themselves how the writers of the book know the thoughts and motivations of an animal.
Here's an example:
"The typical pose of a cat when sitting at a Point of Harmonic Resonance: the eyes are slightly closed and the cat will generally purr and may rock gently back and forth.
Almost all cats that paint spend at least ten minutes in resonance prior to commencing a work, which suggests they derive some inspiration power from these invisible low frequency force fields."
Here's another one:
Misty's popularity as a painter is due mainly to the figurative nature of her images. The elegant, bi-colored forms that sometimes extend up to ten meters in length, are immediately evocative and invite a wide range of projective interpretations. In a recent work, A Little Lavish Leaping, the surface is heavily built up with short black verticals to produce an elongated curvilinear mass that is at once dense yet strongly nuanced with movement.
Tension gathers at the base and builds upwards, flowing to a release in the upper ovoidal form.
Man, I wish I could write like that. I'm not even sure they're using real words.
I guess because the authors never wink throughout the book, some people take it seriously. They don't ask themselves how the writers of the book know the thoughts and motivations of an animal.
Here's an example:
"The typical pose of a cat when sitting at a Point of Harmonic Resonance: the eyes are slightly closed and the cat will generally purr and may rock gently back and forth.
Almost all cats that paint spend at least ten minutes in resonance prior to commencing a work, which suggests they derive some inspiration power from these invisible low frequency force fields."
Here's another one:
Misty's popularity as a painter is due mainly to the figurative nature of her images. The elegant, bi-colored forms that sometimes extend up to ten meters in length, are immediately evocative and invite a wide range of projective interpretations. In a recent work, A Little Lavish Leaping, the surface is heavily built up with short black verticals to produce an elongated curvilinear mass that is at once dense yet strongly nuanced with movement.
Tension gathers at the base and builds upwards, flowing to a release in the upper ovoidal form.
Man, I wish I could write like that. I'm not even sure they're using real words.
February 15, 2008
holy fucking shit i can't believe this book is real or serious but it is BOTH. the photos are so amazing and i can't even imagine what kind of batshit crazy lady the author is. highly recommended.
January 10, 2012
Outside of several studies, not much is known about the physiological-emotive aspects of feline art. That being said, the work presented in this volume should serve as a wonderful introduction for the layman and cat owner unaware of the long history behind feline aesthetics. Some of the most historically relevant and influential feline artists are discussed at length here, alongside a collection of beautifully reprinted colour plates of their most popular pieces. It is, however, unfortunate to note the extreme bias towards the 'mainstream' of feline art—several epoch-making and vital underground movements have been completely ignored, such as the Oakland School (street art), and the vertiginous Neo-Impressionism of the Les Chats Sauvages in Auteuil. Despite these shortcomings, this book successfully illuminates the previously unknown link between feline aesthetics and the nature of all non-primate art.
June 11, 2010
Absolutely brilliant satire. One of the funniest books you'll ever read about cats. Great images of cats painting, cat paintings, and other cat art. Truly inspired. A worthwhile way to spend time.
July 29, 2021
Very good fiction can transcend non-fiction, and this book shows this for the genre of art criticism.
“Live by the [harmless untruths] that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy." —Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut
I really wanted to believe this was real. This book is an elaborate joke mocking how art criticism could add value to the most thoughtless, accidental and fabricated method of painting. Some references do not exist and some of the smaller statements are clearly false... like the hypnotic cow companion of one the cat painters... This was made before the internet was much good, so early readers would be fooled (as I think some reviewers are here).
What makes this nonsense still worth reading is that, within itself, it laughably makes sense. I think it's better than some real art criticism. The genres of cat art could be applied to real art quite easily, and however fabricated these examples are they do demonstrate the differences in approaches to painting. In short, this book is as useful as a retelling of a particularly interesting dream, in that although it is not based in reality, it is more thoughtful and enjoyable and useful to the viewer than some things that are!
“Live by the [harmless untruths] that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy." —Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut
I really wanted to believe this was real. This book is an elaborate joke mocking how art criticism could add value to the most thoughtless, accidental and fabricated method of painting. Some references do not exist and some of the smaller statements are clearly false... like the hypnotic cow companion of one the cat painters... This was made before the internet was much good, so early readers would be fooled (as I think some reviewers are here).
What makes this nonsense still worth reading is that, within itself, it laughably makes sense. I think it's better than some real art criticism. The genres of cat art could be applied to real art quite easily, and however fabricated these examples are they do demonstrate the differences in approaches to painting. In short, this book is as useful as a retelling of a particularly interesting dream, in that although it is not based in reality, it is more thoughtful and enjoyable and useful to the viewer than some things that are!
August 26, 2015
A book about cats and art. My three favorite nouns!
Laugh if you must but kitties totally have that whole expressionistic, painterly, gestural thing down, though I strongly suspect yoomans might be choosing the color palettes. If only I could be so free in my artwork.
Great fun for hopelessly besotted cat lovers.
Laugh if you must but kitties totally have that whole expressionistic, painterly, gestural thing down, though I strongly suspect yoomans might be choosing the color palettes. If only I could be so free in my artwork.
Great fun for hopelessly besotted cat lovers.
July 27, 2012
Hilarious. A perfectly executed satire, poking fun at both cat fanatics and art snobs. Perfectly illustrates the idea that anything at all can be labeled as art. I got to the end of the book before realizing fully that it was a joke. Wonderful, wonderful.
November 9, 2014
A brilliant and well referenced scholarly treatise on the feline aesthetic which includes brief biosketches of a dozen contemporary painters. It also includes a brief section on the more traditional media including upholstery, mini-blinds, and dead rodents. Notably absent is bezoar art.
Read
April 1, 2023Not a joke? I’m gullible. Why not? Tried to get our cat interested but paint’s rather messy, so we steered her toward poetry magnets on the fridge. Her quality of life has definitely improved. In fact it’s hard to get her to go outside these days. She just keeps shuffling words around trying out new lineation and phrasing, a line break here, a caesura there. Sort of what I do all day myself.
July 27, 2011
I really enjoyed certain aspects of this book, and others I had to roll my eyes at. First of all, Smokey is a very intriguing artist. He's really something else. I felt the others had similar styles but he stands out. And then Princess, really impressed me too. I enjoyed reading how the cats had these different methods of preparing, and how the one would study himself in the mirror and then completely stopped painting when his female friend could no longer pose for him. Then the cat that paints the bikes was cool cause its so obvious thats what he's painting since the colors are the same (unless of course, those were the only ones he was given).
However, when it comes to holes in the armchair and blinds, I have to say "give me a break...".. .also I often found myself cringing at how some of the people try to interpret the paintings in such human ways. It seems more like they're painting emotions than specific objects in a lot of them. But when someone in the book says "It's most certainly the dogs lifted leg before he takes a whiz!" my eyes really start rolling. No body REALLY knows what any of them are paintings of, especially not CERTAINLY. Which made me not like the titles that they're given cause it directs the viewer toward a certain interpretation instead of taking it in for what it is.....
Educational and entertaining, non the less... I do believe cats can be painters.
However, when it comes to holes in the armchair and blinds, I have to say "give me a break...".. .also I often found myself cringing at how some of the people try to interpret the paintings in such human ways. It seems more like they're painting emotions than specific objects in a lot of them. But when someone in the book says "It's most certainly the dogs lifted leg before he takes a whiz!" my eyes really start rolling. No body REALLY knows what any of them are paintings of, especially not CERTAINLY. Which made me not like the titles that they're given cause it directs the viewer toward a certain interpretation instead of taking it in for what it is.....
Educational and entertaining, non the less... I do believe cats can be painters.
January 1, 2019
TOTALLY HILARIOUS. At first glance this book actually appears to be a serious scholarly or academic work. It includes chapters on the history and theories of feline “marking behavior”, major cat artists (portrait painters, abstract expressionists, reductionists, etc.), and especially the use and value of titles. P.36 “Without them, we run the risk of dismissing cat painting as no more relevant than the mindless territorial daubing of the graffitist.” Page 83 discusses the serious problem of cats who are not given access to paint….thus …forced to continue with soft sculpture.
On page 85 the author tells of a cat artist who, when her work was completed satisfactorily she urinated. Many human artists, surely, will relate to this. There is also extensive discussion of other forms of artistic expression – sculpture and scratch forms, aesthetic clawing, accentuation and installations (some involving dead animals!).
This 96 page coffee-table sized paperback book also includes great photos of the (cat) artists at work and some interesting examples from ancient and medieval art or Victorian ads.
On page 85 the author tells of a cat artist who, when her work was completed satisfactorily she urinated. Many human artists, surely, will relate to this. There is also extensive discussion of other forms of artistic expression – sculpture and scratch forms, aesthetic clawing, accentuation and installations (some involving dead animals!).
This 96 page coffee-table sized paperback book also includes great photos of the (cat) artists at work and some interesting examples from ancient and medieval art or Victorian ads.
January 22, 2008
Not nearly as funny as Dancing With Cats, this book is kind of stunningly awful. After the paintings, there's a section on like multimedia art? The one I remember most is there's a big photo of a scratched-up sofa arm, with a blown-up section that has lines going to various oozes of stuffing and particular gashes, and actually discusses the meaning of different tear angles and feline angst and such. It goes far past unintentionally funny and turns into creepy and sad.
Unless possibly it's all a satire or a spoof? In which case, ha ha I guess, but really that's a lot of effort to go to for something not that funny.
Unless possibly it's all a satire or a spoof? In which case, ha ha I guess, but really that's a lot of effort to go to for something not that funny.
June 12, 2011
As much as I love cats, I can't see myself encouraging my cats to paint- although some of these cats' paintings sell for thousands of dollars. It was also hard for me to tell if the tone of this book was serious or if it was a spoof. I just wonder how the cats can clean the paint off themselves and not get sick.
September 13, 2007
I liked it because of the picture of cats painting and just the very fact that its a cat-lover's kind of book. But I found most of the theories raised in the book to be just "making-a-lot-of-scientific-sounding-something-out-of-nothing".
October 29, 2007
Even if you don't care for (or believe in) cat art, there are so many fun pictures of beautiful kitties! My favorite are the two cats/artists who spend their summer days sunbathing while lounging on the backs of their horses.
December 25, 2012
Hard to read for folks who don't know much about art theory (like me), but I know enough to get the joke. *If* it's a joke. I'm still trying to think of how to try it on my cats, with a substance that is safe for them to get on/lick off their paws.
August 28, 2013
THIS BOOK IS AMAZING,, THE THINGS CATS DO WHEN THEY PAINT ARE AWESOME, I TRIED SOME WITH MY CAT AND ONLY GOT HER PAW PRINTS BUT IT WAS COOL TO TRY,,, I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH ITS A KEEPER! CATS AND ALL ANIMALS ARE SIMPLY AMAZING!
July 6, 2011
I was disappointed to find this was merely flawless satire. When we thought it was real it was way funnier.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 15, 2011
Ridiculous, but a great satire on art and the way that artists can be portrayed.
June 13, 2018
It is the most unbelievable and wonderful book I have ever had in my hands. Enjoyed every single letter of it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews