AN EXHIBITION OF THE WORK OF LOUIS WAIN (1860-1939)
Louis William Wain studied at the West London School of Art, and began his career as an art journalist. However, it was for his pictures of cats that he eventually became famous. From the 1880s until the outbreak of the First World War, the ‘Louis Wain cat’ was hugely popular. Appearing in prints, books, magazines, post-cards and annuals, Wain’s cats are to be found engaging in every form of human activity - from playing cricket, digging up roads, and riding bicycles, to parading the latest fashions at Ascot and making pompous after-dinner speeches at the club.
Despite his fame Wain never made much money, being highly impractical in business matters, and during the war he began to suffer real poverty. Always known as being somewhat eccentric, he began to develop signs of serious mental disorder. Previously a mild and gentle man, he became increasingly suspicious, abusive, and occasionally even violent towards his sisters with whom he lived.
Eventually, in June 1924, he was certified insane and committed to Springfield Hospital (the former Surrey County Asylum) at Tooting. ‘Discovered’ here the following year, he was transferred to Bethlem Hospital after a campaign by admirers of his work, including the Prime Minister Ramsey Macdonald. The Hospital was at that time at St George’s Fields, Southwark.
In 1930 Louis Wain was transferred to Napsbury Hospital, near St Albans. He continued drawing until near the end of his life, and exhibitions of his work were held in London in 1931 and 1937. He died at Napsbury on 4 July 1939.
The exhibition consists of 41 paintings, drawings, annuals and medal owned by the Trustees of the Bethlem Art and History Collections Trust.
The exhibition is offered free of hire charge to further the Trustees’ policy of making the work of artists who have suffered mental illness available to a wider audience. Borrowers are required to arrange packing and transport and nail-to-nail insurance. Associated shop merchandise is available on a sale or return basis. The Trust’s Education and Outreach Officer is available for advice on programmes for schools.
|
