Louis Wain is an Edwardian artist best known for his paintings of cats. His paintings, which progress from realistic depictions of cats to anthropomorphic images to abstracted psychadelic representations are often cited as proof of his mental decline as allegedly he was schizophrenic. (Posthumous analysis tends to diagnose him with something closer to Aspergers). This notion of decline is particularly contentious issue as he produced realistic images alongside the horror vacui felines throughout his life, including the last fifteen years of which he spent at Bethlem.
Whatever the truth may be considering the recent popularity of so-called Outsider Art (Museum of Everything), this is surely the time for a reappraisal of Wain's work.
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