Composition With Cat: Lost Masterpieces of the Twentieth Century

by William Warmack

Presents a catalog of an exhibition held at the Philip Wood Gallery of never-before-displayed paintings and sculptures depicting cats

91 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just checked the copyright page, and I see that it was published in 1997. If it had come along in 2017 or later, it would likely be a collection of internet memes instead of a book.

What we’ve got here are a collection of artworks in the style of various iconic artists, all of them incorporating cats in some way. It's light and entertaining. William Warmack--I am assuming he’s the one actually responsible for these--does a fine job of evoking each artist’s individual style. I think my favorite pieces involved artists noted for the abstraction of their work: Mark Rothko, Frank Stella, Piet Mondrian, Louise Nevelson, Robert Motherwell, etc. It's very difficult to be abstract while still suggestive of cat. The “Mondrian” does, I think, a particularly good job of this.

After the artworks, there's a section of biographies focusing on the actual cats owned by the artists represented in the book, Apparently all owned cats. I'm assuming that this section is at least moderately factual. Most of the information strikes me as more plausible than the artworks themselves. In the few cases where I’m somewhat familiar with the artist’s biography, I don't recall any mention of pets, so perhaps I should take this section with a grain of salt until proven otherwise …

Fun book! Recommended!

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Composition with Cat: Lost Masterpieces of the Twentieth Century. It’s a great book for anyone who loves cats and art. I’m not sure how much of the story is true. The intro tells how the author, William Warmack, found a collection of masterpieces of the twentieth century from a “titled Russian emigree”. The main portion of the book features pictures of paintings with cats in the style of some of my favorite modern artists, such as Alexander Calder, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keefe, and Andy Warhol. In the back of the book, there is a short piece on each painter and the cat/s in their life. It’s cute and entertaining. The paintings are accurately in the style of each artist. It was a quick and enjoyable read.

[Ami · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute coffeetable book of artwork that imitates famous artists', only with a cat theme. I read this book alongside The Art Book, looking up each artist as I went along. I ended up learning a bit about each artist, and also that The Art Book is quite comprehensive! Cute idea.

[Kathi Olsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious comparisons to traditional art reviews.