Trash to Thousands: Rescued Cat Paintings Sell at Auction
A couple learned that the paintings they found on a walk were the work of popular Victorian artist Louis Wain.
A couple walking their dog in Pembrokeshire, Wales, never expected a pair of discarded cat paintings found beside a dumpster to be worth thousands of dollars.
The couple, who have requested anonymity, passed by a skip (British English term for a dumpster) while walking around their neighborhood in Pembrokeshire, Wales. They spotted a pair of colorful paintings and, as they later told Rogers Jones Co., “we thought it could be a lovely gift for our daughter-in-law, who loves cats.”
The daughter-in-law later returned the paintings, and the couple hung them in their own house. Both paintings, one called “Blue Cat Among the Flowers” and the other with two pictures, “Psychedelic Cats” on one side and “Deer in an Idyllic Landscape” on the other, had labels with their titles and the names of the dealer and the artist. They were all painted by Louis Wain.
“One day, we decided to research Louis Wain and were gobsmacked to see how famous he was,” the couple said. Wain (1860-1939) trained at the West London School of Art and started working as an artist in 1881. He became famous for his whimsical paintings and illustrations of cats, which depicted them in surreal scenes or engaged in humanlike activities, but he earned little from them and did not receive royalties. Later, he began showing signs of a mental disorder. In 1924, he was committed to a mental hospital, but he kept drawing and painting for the rest of his life. Today, the Bethlem Hospital, where he stayed for some time, has a collection of his work in its Museum of the Mind. The biographical film The Electrical Life of Louis Wain was released in 2021.
Realizing that their paintings were the work of a famous artist, the couple contacted Rogers Jones Co., auctioneers and valuers located in Wales. Auctioneer Charles Hampshire confirmed they were original works by Wain. “It’s always wonderful to hear stories of people uncovering extraordinary treasures in their homes. It really shows the importance of checking attics, lofts and old belongings, as you never know what hidden gems might be waiting to be discovered,” he says.
The paintings appeared in the auction house’s British and European Fine Arts Auction in Cardiff on May 21. Both surpassed their high estimates, with “Blue Cat Among the Flowers” selling for £6,600 (about $8,844) and the double-sided “Psychedelic Cats” and “Deer in an Idyllic Landscape” for £9,400 (about $12,600).
Images: Rogers Jones & Co.
