Having Conquered the Internet With Ease, Cats Return to the Art World

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
“Reclining Cat, Head Resting on his Paws,” a 1902 drawing by artist Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, is one of many felines featured in the VMFA’s “Steinlen: Cats.” The exhibit is a collaboration with concurrent University of Richmond exhibit, “Steinlen: Humanity.”


When New York's Museum of the Moving Image produced a video exhibit in 2015 called "How Cats Took Over the Internet," the executive director declined to say whether the exhibit was or wasn't art.

With the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts' "Steinlen: Cats" exhibit, curator Mitchell Merling has no qualms about saying that it most definitely is art. The feline-themed show combines realistic images of cats with highly stylized ones, while also reflecting Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen's growth as an artist who experimented with a range of styles.

Once Steinlen moved from his native Switzerland to the bohemian Parisian suburb Montmartre, he quickly became part of the regular scene at the Chat Noir, a cabaret that attracted Parisians of all backgrounds. Included in the exhibit is one of the most iconic posters of all time, Steinlen's 1896 "The Black Cat Cabaret," considered one of the best examples of 19th century graphic art and recognizable to many even if they've never heard of the artist.

"Cats were a major preoccupation for him and a symbol, because as creatures who interact with us, they bring out human emotions in us," Merling explains, but can't resist adding, "They also make wonderful art nouveau lines with their tails and whiskers."

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