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The Book of the Cat: Cats in Art
Cats have been revered by artists since ancient times for their beauty, grace, independence, and air of mystery. Domesticated, but with a touch of the wild about them, they share our homes and endlessly fascinate us. The Book of the Cat is a cool and quirky collection of feline art and illustration by artists from around the world.
Interspersed through the illustrations are short texts about the artists and their subjects. Beautifully designed and packaged, the book will appeal to cat lovers of all ages.
Interspersed through the illustrations are short texts about the artists and their subjects. Beautifully designed and packaged, the book will appeal to cat lovers of all ages.
160 pages, Paperback
First published August 29, 2017
3 people are currently reading
350 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
May 5, 2020
içindekş bazı bilgiler beni çok şaşırttı, keyifli bir okumaydı. 🦉
December 25, 2025
чудова книжка для натхнення і підняття настрою 🙂
April 2, 2020
Categorie => katten zijn altijd ok! Erg mooi vormgegeven en fijne afbeeldingen van katten in de kunst, maar tegelijkertijd ook een beetje eenzijdig in de keuzes die ze maakten. Desalniettemin vond ik het een fijn boekje.
November 8, 2025
Одна з моїх настільних книг, точніше приліжкових )
February 18, 2024
cats save me
cats
save me cats
cats
save me cats
Read
July 12, 2019Bought this adorable book for $3 at a book sale when I was only browsing. Initially, I was admiring the awesome cats immortalised by known and obscure painters alike
— from Leonardo da Vinci to Tsuguharu Foujita, classic to contemporary art — I just had to buy this once I closed the book and saw a Charles Dickens' quote plastered on it: "What greater gift than the love of a cat." Honestly (other than a dog's).
Other than featuring a cat that looks like a frog (pictured above: Cat and Butterfly by Xu Gu. Photo from MET museum site), it also includes in each painting a short description/critique concise enough to warrant some interest on the artwork plus a background history on some of their conception and inspiration. In between these are quotations about cats, my favourite amongst them are ** "For a man to truly understand rejection, he must first be ignored by a cat." (Anonymous) and ** "One cat just leads to another." (Ernest Hemingway). A very light-hearted and interesting introduction also opens up this small book proving yet again humans' strange relationship with cats compared to the hailed man's best friend, dogs, who always try to please and devotedly worship us. Cats on the other hand don't really try and often give us a snobbish, could-not-care-less attitude. Some of us keep coming back for more because we love the chase. Some of us love the indifference with their bodies rubbing across our legs for some warmth or rare affection. The only gripe I have with this collection is how short it is and how it ends with Picasso (who for personal reasons I don't like all that much).
These are my favourite Cat in Art from this collection. Two of them have birds in them because I also love birds:
(Bruno Liljefors's A Cat Stalking a Mouse in the Snow, 1892. Photo from artnet.com)
(Peter Blake's The Owl & the Pussycat, 1983. Photo from Art UK site)
(Diane Hoeptner's In the Shadow, 2014. Photo from http://www.pixels.com)
(Karen Hollingsworth's Connected, 2010. Photo from http://karenhollingsowrth.com)
The Book of the Cat: Cats in Art is a feel-good collection of artworks featuring cats, not only as a subject but also as secondary characters. I miss all the stray cats we feed and adopt back home. Recommended for all feline and animal lovers alike.
— from Leonardo da Vinci to Tsuguharu Foujita, classic to contemporary art — I just had to buy this once I closed the book and saw a Charles Dickens' quote plastered on it: "What greater gift than the love of a cat." Honestly (other than a dog's).
Other than featuring a cat that looks like a frog (pictured above: Cat and Butterfly by Xu Gu. Photo from MET museum site), it also includes in each painting a short description/critique concise enough to warrant some interest on the artwork plus a background history on some of their conception and inspiration. In between these are quotations about cats, my favourite amongst them are ** "For a man to truly understand rejection, he must first be ignored by a cat." (Anonymous) and ** "One cat just leads to another." (Ernest Hemingway). A very light-hearted and interesting introduction also opens up this small book proving yet again humans' strange relationship with cats compared to the hailed man's best friend, dogs, who always try to please and devotedly worship us. Cats on the other hand don't really try and often give us a snobbish, could-not-care-less attitude. Some of us keep coming back for more because we love the chase. Some of us love the indifference with their bodies rubbing across our legs for some warmth or rare affection. The only gripe I have with this collection is how short it is and how it ends with Picasso (who for personal reasons I don't like all that much).
These are my favourite Cat in Art from this collection. Two of them have birds in them because I also love birds:
(Bruno Liljefors's A Cat Stalking a Mouse in the Snow, 1892. Photo from artnet.com)
(Peter Blake's The Owl & the Pussycat, 1983. Photo from Art UK site)
(Diane Hoeptner's In the Shadow, 2014. Photo from http://www.pixels.com)
(Karen Hollingsworth's Connected, 2010. Photo from http://karenhollingsowrth.com)
The Book of the Cat: Cats in Art is a feel-good collection of artworks featuring cats, not only as a subject but also as secondary characters. I miss all the stray cats we feed and adopt back home. Recommended for all feline and animal lovers alike.
February 28, 2022
Táto kniha je vizuálne krásna, veľmi sa z nej teším, pre milovníkov mačiek ultimátny booster serotonínu. K niektorým obrazom autor napísal aj zaujímavé fakty a pozadie vzniku, čo veľmi oceňujem. Texty sú akurát dlhé, vôbec nie nudné, veľmi rada by som si prečítala viac aj o ďalších obrazoch! Na druhej strane však rozumiem, že nie každý vznikol za obzvlášť špecifických a zaujímavých okolností. Jednu hviezdičku dávam dolu preto, že ak si knižku prečíta niekto, kto mačky doma nemá, pravdepodobne sa niektorými citáciami a časťami textov utvrdí v zbytočných predsudkoch, s ktorými sa tieto zvieratá stretávajú roky. A to beriem dané texty s nadhľadom! Z vlastnej skúsenosti viem, že mačky sú rovnako naviazané na majiteľov ako psy. Vyžadujú si len väčší rešpekt osobných hraníc, čo sa im, koniec-koncov, ani nedá vyčítať. Cítim to totiž rovnako. Jo a citát: "ženy a mačky si budú robiť čo chcú, muži a psy si na to musia zvyknúť"...eh... Viac k tomu nemám čo dodať.
July 4, 2023
A really terrific collection of artworks dedicated to the not-so-humble cat. Beautiful selections that I will enjoy over and over.
December 2, 2018
I love this book! I’ve read it on and off over the last couple of years, so I think it’s probably cheating to count it towards my reading goal of 2018, but hey ho! This is one of those books to dip in and out of, and it features a wide variety of art featuring cats and sometimes information about the art or artist featured. Whenever I feel anxious or can’t sleep, flipping through this book calms me down. A lot of the art is quite strange, and I’ve discovered new artists through this book. Highly, highly recommended for any cat lover who also loves art!
October 7, 2017
This book reproduces cat art. I liked that a lot of contemporary artists were included. Some illustrations have a small paragraph about the artist and others do not. There are "cat quotes" included, also. I loved this book, but art lovers as well as cat lovers should enjoy it.
September 13, 2020
My favorite read this month, it was just too perfect. My love for cats aside, this book makes a great selection of art and quotes, showing both the elegant and funny side of cats very accurately. It's so quick that I'd honestly recommend it to anyone with any affinity for cats
March 26, 2019
I need to find more books like this one. ♥
July 17, 2020
Yazı - görsel dengesi çok iyi kurulmuş bir kitap. İçerik olarak seçilen resimlerin güncel sanatçıların resimlerini de içermesi, tanıdık sanatçıların eserlerine basılı bir şekilde ulaşmak açısından son derece güzel. Dönüp dönüp resimlere bakmak için tekrar elime alacağım kitaplardan olacak.
March 7, 2021
Love this small book. Not much reading, but lots of lovely cat illustrations/paintings.
July 20, 2023
Ідеальний арт-бук для тих хто любить котів та мистецтво. Забезпечить вас насолодою від споглядання хвилин на 30-40.
June 30, 2022
I love cat
November 7, 2022
Sanatın ve kedilerin büyüsüne inanan, gizemine hayran olan herkes için...bir kere okunup, yüzlerce kez çizimlerde, resimlerde kaybolmak için
December 14, 2017
I'm so happy this book exists
December 27, 2023
Це було... прикольно. Не знаю чого я очікувала після такої анотації, але мені не вистачило всього: хронології (картини напхані абияк), тексту (дитячі роздуми про котиків) та самих котів (обмежена вибірка). Коротше я хотіла якогось дослідження, порівнянь, історичних відомостей про художників, їхні роботи та стилі. У порядку такому, щоби мозок вчився бачити деталі й розрізняти час створення картини та руку майстра. Побільше аналізу професійного, поменше тупих цитат. Та реальність жорстока, маємо що маємо. Хоч котики красиві.
March 8, 2021
'there's no need for a piece of sculpture in a home that has a cat'
it is definitely my kind of book! :)
it is definitely my kind of book! :)
August 15, 2023
I may have just read the best book I will ever read.
June 11, 2022
"What a greater gift than the love of a cat." Charles Dickens
This is a difficult book to describe, because it is art involving cats. The wonderful part is that you can interpret each painting by itself.
So many of these paintings were painted in the 1600's, and most of these paintings were very different than the more recent ones. The people in the paintings were painted very differently, and did not resemble real people.But, maybe they weren't supposed to. Some of the artists' work is displayed along with their bibliography, including Lucian Freud, Dame Elizabeth Blackadder, Francisco Goya, David Hockney, Franz Marc, Sebastiano Lazzari, Leonardo Da Vinci, Xu Gu, Kiki Smith, Morris Hirshfield, Christopher Wood, Balthus, Tsuguharu Leonard Foujita, E'douard Manet, Christopher Nevinson, Cornelis Visscher, Edward Bawden, and Ammi Phillips. I knew very few of these artists, but found their biographies very interesting.
The cats all look different...some hardly look like cats at all. I would love to pull out my favorites, frame them, and hang them on my walls, but I won't, of coarse.
I really enjoyed this book, especially since I am a cat lover/owner myself. All cat lovers, and even those who don't, will enjoy this book.
This is a difficult book to describe, because it is art involving cats. The wonderful part is that you can interpret each painting by itself.
So many of these paintings were painted in the 1600's, and most of these paintings were very different than the more recent ones. The people in the paintings were painted very differently, and did not resemble real people.But, maybe they weren't supposed to. Some of the artists' work is displayed along with their bibliography, including Lucian Freud, Dame Elizabeth Blackadder, Francisco Goya, David Hockney, Franz Marc, Sebastiano Lazzari, Leonardo Da Vinci, Xu Gu, Kiki Smith, Morris Hirshfield, Christopher Wood, Balthus, Tsuguharu Leonard Foujita, E'douard Manet, Christopher Nevinson, Cornelis Visscher, Edward Bawden, and Ammi Phillips. I knew very few of these artists, but found their biographies very interesting.
The cats all look different...some hardly look like cats at all. I would love to pull out my favorites, frame them, and hang them on my walls, but I won't, of coarse.
I really enjoyed this book, especially since I am a cat lover/owner myself. All cat lovers, and even those who don't, will enjoy this book.
June 28, 2019
My first book on paintings and this is about cats.
BTS.
Bought this book on Thursday night, along with three others, because it was bargain books. So, why not?!
I unboxed it on Friday morning coz the original plan was to stay home and read as that was my first day of period.
But! When I opened the plastic wrap, the book was wet and damp nearly to the end, almost ripped at the back of the book.
So, I just jumped out of bed, got dressed and went straight to the bookstore.
Fortunately, I got a replacement coz apparently the other copy was wet also. Only one was okay, though the cover was a bit dirty. Yet, I was cool rather than wet and ripped book.
Anywho, I enjoyed the paintings as if I am at the gallery myself. There is another series on dogs. I'll consider to buy it as soon as I am finished with my shock.
Happy reading, good people!
BTS.
Bought this book on Thursday night, along with three others, because it was bargain books. So, why not?!
I unboxed it on Friday morning coz the original plan was to stay home and read as that was my first day of period.
But! When I opened the plastic wrap, the book was wet and damp nearly to the end, almost ripped at the back of the book.
So, I just jumped out of bed, got dressed and went straight to the bookstore.
Fortunately, I got a replacement coz apparently the other copy was wet also. Only one was okay, though the cover was a bit dirty. Yet, I was cool rather than wet and ripped book.
Anywho, I enjoyed the paintings as if I am at the gallery myself. There is another series on dogs. I'll consider to buy it as soon as I am finished with my shock.
Happy reading, good people!
July 21, 2024
It's a book you can glide through very quickly and offers view on cats painting of many different styles, mostly from 19th century to modern art, which I thought was amazing selection, including works from unknown artists.
My rating is more of 3.5 stars because I would really appreciate more texts about the art pieces, while you do learn some very interesting facts, some of the texts have bits that are more of a feeling of the writer than the stories about paintings, and in some 100 words per art piece (and only few of them do get text), that felt like a shame.
But I did loved learning some new names to explore further like Sü Ku, Balthus or Dorota Sorková.
My rating is more of 3.5 stars because I would really appreciate more texts about the art pieces, while you do learn some very interesting facts, some of the texts have bits that are more of a feeling of the writer than the stories about paintings, and in some 100 words per art piece (and only few of them do get text), that felt like a shame.
But I did loved learning some new names to explore further like Sü Ku, Balthus or Dorota Sorková.
August 5, 2025
I think this is my first time reading an art book, I loved it!
I read it pretty fast because I was kinda in a rush but I still adored all the paintings and the stories behind them. I love to think about all the love that is put into a painting of a beloved family member. I would literally love if one day one of my paintings/drawings of my cats ends up in one of these types of books.
I read it pretty fast because I was kinda in a rush but I still adored all the paintings and the stories behind them. I love to think about all the love that is put into a painting of a beloved family member. I would literally love if one day one of my paintings/drawings of my cats ends up in one of these types of books.
July 14, 2018
Türkçe’ye Hep Kitap yayınları tarafından kazandırılan bu kitap sanatsever ve kedi aşığı olan herkesin kütüphanesinde kesinlikle bulunmalı. Kitap pek çok resmin ardındaki hikayeyi açıklarken ressamların hayatları ve kedi severlikleriyle ilgili de ilginç bilgiler içeriyor.
November 21, 2018
Un hermoso libro que todos los amantes de los felinos atesorarán 🐱. Más de 160 páginas con ilustraciones, fotografías y pequeños textos de estas adorables, misteriosas y fascinantes mascotas <3 que por siglos nos han acompañado con toda su belleza e independencia.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews