Graphite and watercolour on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/gwen-john-1363" aria-label="More by Gwen John" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Gwen John</a>
Cat
Purchased 1940
animals: mammals
cat
<p>Gwen John adored her cats, and depicted them frequently. This one, a tortoiseshell named Edgar Quinet, appears in most of her cat drawings, sometimes with her kittens. The name was taken from the address where John lived in 1904 when she first had the cat, 19 boulevard Edgar Quinet in Paris. When Edgar Quinet ran away in 1908, John was devastated. In a letter to a friend, Ursula Tyrwhitt, she wrote, 'when the cats make love I run to see if my sweet is one of them'. She composed a poem to her loss, 'Au Chat', which she sent to Rodin.</p><p><em>Gallery label, September 2004</em></p>
paper unique graphite watercolour
29 September 2004 – 15 May 2005
2005-05-15
29 September 2004 – 9 January 2005
2005-01-09
2004-09-29
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
12 February 2005 – 15 May 2005
2005-05-15
2005-02-12
Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales (Cardiff, UK)
2004-09-29
Gwen John and Augustus John
Exhibition
9 March 2020 – 3 January 2021
2021-01-03
9 March 2020 – 3 January 2021
2021-01-03
2020-03-09
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2020-03-09
Gwen John
Collection based display
13 May 2023 – 30 April 2024
2024-04-30
13 May 2023 – 8 October 2023
2023-10-08
2023-05-13
Pallant House Gallery (Chichester, UK)
27 October 2023 – 30 April 2024
2024-04-30
2023-10-27
Holburne Museum of Art (Bath, UK)
http://www.bath.ac.uk/Holburne/
2023-05-13
Gwen John: Art and Life in London and Paris
Loan-out
Cat
support: 111 × 137 mm
Purchased 1940
<p>Gwen John adored her cats, and depicted them  frequently. This one, a tortoiseshell named Edgar  Quinet, appears in most of her cat <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/d/drawing" title="Glossary definition for 'Drawing'"><span>drawings</span></a>,  sometimes with her kittens. The name was taken  from the address where John lived in 1904 when she  first had the cat, 19 boulevard Edgar Quinet in  Paris. When Edgar Quinet ran away in 1908, John  was devastated. In a letter to a friend, Ursula  Tyrwhitt, she wrote, 'when the cats make love I  run to see if my sweet is one of them'. She  composed a poem to her loss, 'Au Chat', which she  sent to Rodin.</p>
Display caption
2004-09-03T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>N05154</b>	CAT
<br/> </p>
<p>Not inscribed.	</p>
<p>Watercolour, 4 3/8×5 3/8 (11·5×14).	
<br/>Purchased from the Matthiesen Gallery (Knapping Fund) 1940.	
<br/><i>Coll:</i> As for <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/john-study-of-a-child-n05152" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N05152</span></a>.	</p>
<p>Gwen John loved cats and indeed friendships like that with Maude Boughton-Leigh (see No.4088) were almost formed on a mutual fondness for cats. She had cats when she lived in Howland Street, London, and she was surrounded with cats when she went to live in the small shed on a piece of waste land behind the Rue Babie, Meudon. Latterly cats were among Gwen John's few companions; describing her death at Dieppe her brother wrote: ‘She had brought no baggage whatever, but as it turned out had not forgotten to make in her will a suitable provision for the cats....’</p>
<p>This study, together with <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/john-cat-n05155" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N05155</span></a>, may have been done at Meudon or in Paris. See <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/john-a-lady-reading-n03174" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N03174</span></a> and <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/john-cat-t00156" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>T00156</span></a>.</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, <i>The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture</i>, London 1964, I
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-07-20T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
animals: mammals cat