Cat on Chair

John Nash 1893 - 1977

Summary

The unusual viewpoint used in this print means that the viewer is looking directly down at a cat seated upon a chair. The sharp cropping of the composition means that not much of the chair can be seen apart from the square seat and a bit of the wooden chair back. The cat is seated with its legs underneath it and its tail curled under so the viewer can only see its back and the back of its head. The cat is positioned diagonally across the composition with its head in the top left hand corner and the end of its body in the bottom right hand corner. As a monochrome palette has been used much of the detailing, like the cat’s fur and the wicker of the chair seat are rendered using fine, precise white highlights. The cat is one of several Nash and his wife had at their home Bottengoms in Wormingford, a village in Essex on the bank of the River Stour.