Craxton, John – Happy Cat

DescriptionInk and wash on paper, 1980’s. Craxton knew his cats – their inner lives. As his partner Richard Riley pointed out:  ‘Craxton was so familiar with the vocabulary of cat moves, gestures and stances that he could capture them with utter conviction in a few strokes of the pen or brush’.*Here we have happy cat. Happy, perhaps, because this cat understands a profound, existential truth. Or happy – who knows – because it has just eaten the cream?*Andrew Lambirth: Craxton (2024) T&H.