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25 Famous Cat Paintings:

Historic to Modern
Masterpieces
By Cassidy Sutton
Oct 2, 2023

Click to Skip Ahead

Ancient Times to the Medieval Period Renaiss

Admiring paintings isn’t everyone’s idea of

a good time. But throw a cat in a painting,
and suddenly you’ve captured the world’s
attention.

Are you interested in knowing which artists

adored cats just like you? Today, we’re
taking a cultural dive as we talk about 25
famous cat paintings from ancient to
modern times.

When we’re done, you’ll have 25 new gift

ideas for the cat-loving Pablo Picasso in
your life. Class is now in session!

Ancient Times to the

Medieval Period

1. Tomb of Nebamun

Tomb of Nebamun (Image Credit: Ashley Van Haeften,

Wikimedia Commons CC Attribution 2.0)

Artist: Unknown

Date: 1400–1350 BCE

Medium: Earth pigment on plaster

The ancient Egyptians didn’t have canvas

to paint their pictures. Instead, they painted
on walls of tombs, palaces, and slabs of
stone. Many cat paintings are dispersed
throughout ancient Egypt since cats were
worshiped as gods. One painting, in
particular, is the hunting scene on the
Tomb of Nebamun.

This scene shows Nabamun hunting in the

Nile marsh with a cat next to him, catching
birds. The cat’s eye gives historians the idea
that the cat had a deep religious meaning.
The cat may represent the Sun God hunting
the enemies of light and order.

2. Grinning Cat

Image Credit: Conrad of Megenberg, 1478. All rights

reserved to the copyright owners.

Artist: Conrad of Megenberg

Date: 1478

Medium: Woodcut

The Grinning Cat in Conrad of Megenberg’s

book, Buch der Natur (Book of Nature), is a
portrait that people can’t look away from.
The cat’s face is a grotesque human face
with a disturbing smile instead of the regal
cat face we all love. Conrad of Megenberg
did this for a reason. In fact, many artists in
this time portrayed cats this way. Cats
symbolized pagan and Jewish traditions,
which were represented in Catholic
European paintings as demonic.

If you look at other cat paintings of this

time, you’ll know why cats look this way. It
wasn’t because the artists couldn’t paint a
good cat face. It shows that not all cats
were loved by every religion.

Renaissance Period

3. A Barber’s Shop with Monkeys

and Cats

A Barber’s Shop with Monkeys and Cats (Image Credit:

Abraham Teniers, Wikimedia Commons Public Domain)

Artist: Abraham Teniers

Date: 1647

Medium: Oil on copper

A Barber’s Shop with Monkeys and Cats,

created by Flemish painter Abraham
Teniers, realistically depicts monkeys
serving cats at a barbershop. Teniers used
oil on copper, a popular medium between
the 16th and 17th centuries.

The anthropomorphic painting looks almost

modern and shows that not all paintings
were serious. Usually, we would see
humans in place of the animals, but its
whimsical display of monkeys running a
barbershop is proof that, even then, cats
knew their place as masters.

18th Century

4. The Black Cat

Image Credit: Min Zhen – Gift of DuBois Schanck

Morris, Class of 1893 – Princeton University Art Museum All
rights reserved to the copyright owners.

Artist: Min-Zhen

Date: 1730–1791

Medium: Ink on paper

The Black Cat is not dated, so it’s hard to

say when this beautiful piece was created.
Chinese artist Min Zhen was a seal carver
living most of his life in Hubei. Most of his
work included human figures. Min Zhen was
associated with the Eight Eccentrics of
Yangzhou, a group of painters known for
rejecting the typical rules of painting and
opting for individual expression.

Most famous paintings used oil on canvas,

but this piece used ink on paper. It features
a chubby cat smiling at you—very different
from how European pictures displayed cats.

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19th Century

5. The Cat’s Lunch

The Cat’s Lunch (Image Credit: Marguerite Gérard,

Wikimedia Commons Public Domain0)

Artist: Marguerite Gerard

Date: 1800

Medium: Oil on canvas

Marguerite Gerard was one of the leading

female artists of her time. Gerard liked to
illustrate motherhood and female
companionship in her paintings and
included a pet dog or cat in many of them.
Her brother-in-law, Jean-Honoré
Fragonard, was also a painter and had cats
in his portraits. He probably influenced her
to involve cats in her paintings.

The Cat’s Lunch features a young woman

holding out a plate of food and the cat
clearly enjoying it while the dog eagerly
waits for his bite.

6. Curiosity

Curiosity (Image Credit: Horatio Henry Couldery,

Wikimedia Commons Public Domain)

Artist: Horatio Henry Couldery

Date: 19th century

Medium: Oil on canvas

Couldery was an English cabinet maker

before abandoning the trade to focus on
art. He’s well known as an artist that mainly
focused on animals, specifically cats. He
created portraits that captured realistic
expressions of animals in mischievous
situations. Admirers of his work are in awe
at his ability to paint fur that looks so real
you could touch it.

Curiosity is one painting in a series that

features cats in various scenarios,
overpowered with their usual investigative
behavior. This painting is the most popular
of the series, featuring three cats inspecting
a trapped bird. If the bird escaped, we know
what would happen next!

7. Gabrielle Arnault as a Child

Gabrielle Arnault as a Child (Image Credit: Louis-

Léopold Boilly, Wikimedia Commons Public Domain)

Artist: Louis Leopold Boilly

Date: 1815

Medium: Oil on canvas

French painter Louis Leopold Boilly rose to

fame during the turn of the 19th century for
his ability to produce fantastic portraits. At
first glance, this painting doesn’t seem like
much. It’s a young child holding a cat, and
the colors are plain, but the innocence of
the kitten and the child is almost tangible.
Even the young girl’s eyes seem to draw
you in. Ultimately, this painting is about
youth.

Of course, as cat lovers, we notice the cat.

It’s almost cruel that the cat isn’t looking at
us so we can tell it how cute it looks.

8. The Cook and the Cat

The Cook And The Cat (Image Credit: Ribot Theodule,

Wikimedia Commons Public Domain)

Artist: Théodule-Augustin Ribot

Date: 1860

Medium: Oil on canvas

We all know how sneaky cats can be, and

this painting perfectly captures that
behavior. Mostly self-taught, Théodule-
Augustin Ribot was a French painter and
printmaker who practiced painting
everyday objects by lamplight. In his later
years, he was heavily influenced by Spanish
realistic painters and practiced the realism
style. It makes sense why a few of his
paintings featured kitchen scenes.

This painting depicts a chef preparing his

food and his cat at the foot of his stool,
reaching out to snatch the fish. You can
relate to this portrait if your cat has ever
stolen food off your plate or kitchen
counters.

9. The Cat At Play

Katjesspel (Image Credit: Henriëtte Ronner-Knip,

Wikimedia Commons Public Domain)

Artist: Henriette Ronner-Knip

Date: 1860-1878

Medium: Oil on canvas

The Cat At Play shows an adorable black

and white kitten pouncing on dominoes. As
cat owners, we’re familiar with this stance
far too well, and this painting characterizes
the playful nature of a kitten just right.

Henriette Ronner-Knip painted animals,

forests, and farms using watercolor and oils
in her youth. She chose to focus on cats
and dogs in the 1850s, but most of her well-
known work is from the 1870s. We don’t
know the exact date of this painting. It’s
believed to date between 1860–1878.

10. A White Cat Playing With a

String

Image Credit: Utagawa Hiroshige II – Public Domain

Artist: Hiroshige II

Date: 1863

Medium: Ink

If you study Japanese artist Hiroshige II’s

work, you’ll see that he followed the style of
his artistic mentor. However, this painting is
a piece that shows his own style. A White
Cat Playing With a String is an ink painting
that closely observes a house cat playing
with a string, ready to pounce on the next
sign of movement.

The portrait is minimal, but the colors are

bold and depict an all-too-realistic
moment of a cat enjoying the hunt.

11. Girl and Cat

Image Credit: Pierre-Auguste Renoir – Public Domain

Artist: Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Date: 1880

Medium: Oil on canvas

Girl and Cat is one of many paintings by

French artist Pierre-Auguste featuring cats.
He used an impressionist style, using thin
yet discernible brush strokes, and captured
a perfect moment of cat curiosity. The cat
is infatuated with the flowers, and the girl
keeps an eye on the cat, so he doesn’t
knock over her flowers.

12. Julie Manet With Cat

Julie Manet with cat (Image Credit: Pierre-Auguste

Renoir, Wikimedia Commons Public Domain)

Artist: Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Date: 1887

Medium: Oil

Yet another painting by Pierre-Auguste

Renoir, Julie Manet With Cat proves the
artist’s love for cats. Julie Manet was the
child of two friends of Renoir, one of which
was also a painter. His friends
commissioned the piece in 1887. Renoir
chose a different style other than his usual
impressionistic style, which wasn’t well-
received by his other friends. The Manet’s,
however, loved the portrait of their
daughter.

Renoir created at least four drawings to

prepare for his work. The final product is a