This portrait of these kitties is expected to sell at more than $310,000 at auction. Nope, not joking!
That being said – it does feature a total of 42 cats, which works out at around $5,300 each.
‘My Wife’s Lovers’ is the title of the piece and it was commissioned in the early 1890s by Kate Birdsall Johnson, who had 350 cats on her 3,000 acre estate.
She was obsessed with the animals and employed a troop of servants to specifically cater to all of their needs. Comes as no surprise, each pet had a name which it recognized.
To showcase her love for her pets, Mrs Johnson asked established animal artist Carl Kahler to immortalize them in a grand painting.
The Austrian artist, who had never drawn a cat before, spent an entire three years at her Californian ranch, sketching the animals in various poses before he painted his 2.5-metre wide masterpiece.
The 1891 painting, which weighs a whopping 227lb, will be sold by Sotheby’s at its 19th Century European Art sale in New York this coming Tuesday.
It is expected to sell for around $310,000.
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- The cat portrait made which made up of 42 of the family pets (Picture: SWNS/Sotheby’s)
