My Wife's Lovers
ArtistCarl Kahler Edit this on Wikidata
Dimensions1.8 m × 2.6 m (6 ft × 8.5 ft)
Weight103 kg (227 lb)
Commissioned byKate Birdsall Johnson Edit this on Wikidata
CollectionUnknown Edit this on Wikidata

My Wife's Lovers is a canvas painting by Austrian artist Carl Kahler (1856–1906) depicting forty-two of American millionaire Kate Birdsall Johnson's Turkish Angora and Persian cats.[1][2] The title of the painting was potentially conceived by her husband,[3] who may have referred to the cats with the phrase.[4] Measuring 1.8 m × 2.6 m (6 ft × 8.5 ft), the canvas weighs 103 kg (227 lb).[5]

History

Some say Johnson owned 350 cats that she housed in her summer house Buena Vista near Sonoma, California, and left them US$500,000 in her will, but this is disputed.[2] She commissioned the painting in 1891.[5] Having never painted a cat before, Kahler spent three years studying cats' poses and learning their habits.[3] He reportedly received around US$5,000 for the painting (equivalent to US$160,000 in 2022).[5] The center of the painting shows her cat Sultan, bought by Johnson during a trip to Paris.[3] Johnson lent the painting for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and in the next year it was acquired by Ernest Haquette for his Palace of Art Salon in San Francisco.[5] While the salon was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the painting survived it.[5]

Purchases and display

My Wife's Lovers subsequently hung in Frank C. Havens' Piedmont Art Gallery in Piedmont, California, and was later purchased by a couple from Chicago. In November 2015, the painting was sold at Sotheby's to a private California buyer for US$826,000.[5]

In 2016, the Portland Art Museum displayed the piece between February 2 and June 8, 2016 and partnered with the Oregon Humane Society to raise awareness of cat adoptions.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Blakemore, Erin. "Someone Just Paid $826,000 for the Greatest Cat Painting of All Time". Smithsonian. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
  2. 1 2 "A Meowsterpiece Revisited". Antique Trader. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  3. 1 2 3 Emily Saul (November 3, 2015). "World's largest cat painting sells for $826K". New York Post. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  4. ↑ Rose, Joseph (January 23, 2016). "The world's greatest cat painting is coming to Portland". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "How a Painting of One Woman's 42 Cats Earned More than $820,000 at Auction". Architectural Digest. November 4, 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "Carl Kahler: My Wife's Lovers – Portland Art Museum". Portland Art Museum. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
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