Cat Artist Louis Wain: No, cats didn’t drive him mad.

I was reading a fluffy cat book recently. Not hairy, but, you know, somewhat fluff. It was about famous cats. And I read that artist Louis Wain (1860-1939) went mad because he loved cats so much.

That just didn’t sound right to me.

Of course, this guy is gone and psychologists may never be able to correctly diagnose him now, but many doctors believe that he suffered from schizophrenia. That’s an inherited disease often triggered by stress — not cats!

Wain’s later works are considered good examples of schizophrenic art. Here’s one:

What do you think? Does this painting show mental illness?

Sure enough, Wain was a cat artist. And that cat love did turn into an obsession before he was declared insane, but come on now. Cats don’t drive folks insane. Right?

Wain art images via Wikimedia. In public domain.