Cats are awesome, guys. Show of hands if you agree with this statement! I count one hand…two…three…oh, you’re just stretching? Okay. So two. Well, among the two of you, there is 100% agreement that cats are awesome! You know who else thinks cats are pretty cool? Veselka Velinova http://www.veselkavelinova.com/en , that’s who! A native of Sofia, Bulgaria, this professional artist been churning out lovely illustrations, graphic designs, and a whole lot of other stuff. She also enjoy reading books, so if you’re struggling with what to give her for Christmas, problem solved.
As it so happens, Miss Velinova recently challenged herself to create a series of cat art inspired by various artists and artistic styles. She then presumably looked in the mirror and said, “Challenge accepted” and gave a thumb up. Because I fancy myself a hard-hitting journalist, I contacted her and asked how long it usually takes to complete one of these. Her answer: “2 or 3 days. 6-7 hours a day.” Impressive! So anyway, because it wouldn’t make sense to write this article without proceeding to show off the fruits of her labor, here you go. Not bad, eh?
1. Picasso
If you’ve ever asked yourself, “What would a cat look like if Pablo Picasso had painted one in his noted cubism style” here you go. Confession: if you find this to be nightmare fuel, I would not disagree. But it’s also pretty cool looking.
2. Impressionism
In the 1860s, French artists such as Claude Monet helped create an art movement “characterized by a concern with depicting the visual impression of the moment, especially in terms of the shifting effect of light and color.” Thank you, Google! Anyway, Veselka looked at a cat and said, “I’m going to make something impressive.”
3. Marc Chagall
Chagall, for your information, was a Russian-French artist of Belarusian Jewish origin. Oh my! That’s a lot of roots for one guy, isn’t it! Anyway, he was noted for being an early modernist. Our crack team of researchers couldn’t find any evidence that he was a cat lover. But if he had been, this is what it would have looked like.
4. Wassily Kandinsky
A Moscow-born artist, Kandinsky was recognized for creating the first recognized purely abstract works. Ever wondered what an abstract cat looks like? Thanks to Veselka, you’ll never have to bother me with that question again.
5. Pop Art
This style of art, made famous by the likes of Andy Warhol in the 1950s, turned the conventional concepts of art on its head by focusing on imagery from contemporary advertisements, comic books, and things like Campbell’s Soup cans. Now we’ve got one that incorporates a cat.
6. Japanese Art
Japanese watercolor paintings are pretty sweet. But when you add a cat to the picture, it is pure magic. The kind of magic that could only come from the mind of a rainbow.
7. Futurism
Futurism was an early 20th century concept dreamed up by the likes of Italian artists such as Umberto Boccioni. It emphasized things like speed, technology, and industrial cities. And now cats.
8. Egyptian Art
This one is intriguing on a variety of levels. First, it was the ancient Egyptians who first domesticated the cat. Second, the Egyptians even had a cat goddess named Bastet. So it only logical that Veselka would be inspired to create Egyptian cat art.
9. Gustav Klimt
Klimt was an Austrian symbolist painter whose primary subject was the female body. In its turn, Veselka’s painting features a pair of cats in the purest form of love.
10. Joan Miró
A Spanish artist who was famous for his non-objective paintings and sculptures, Miró was born in Barcelona, my favorite city in the world. So that’s good enough for me. Here’s Veselka’s take on his art, the Cat Edition.
11. Naturalist
The idea beyond this one is pretty simple: what would a cat look like if it were painted in the way that cats actually look?
12. Van Gogh
We finish this list off with a peaceful, sleeping cat, as Van Gogh would have painted it!
