Cook PORTRAIT OF A CAT 1941 Vintage Art Print Matted

Pricing & History

Sold for
Start Free Trial or Sign In to see what it's worth.
Sold Date
Source eBay

Antique, bevel-matted print from a book of cat drawings "HIRAM AND OTHER CATS," by GLADYS EMERSON COOK, published in 1941.Text: NoneARTIST: GLADYS EMERSON COOKCONDITION: EXCELLENT / VERY FINE -- Clean, clear, and bright; no foxing or tears, and GOOD MARGINS. A REALLY NICE IMAGE. NICE DARK LINES AND DEFINITION. [NOTE: BACKGROUND IN TAN, NOT WHITE, AS MOST OTHERS IN THE SERIES.]This print is about 70 years old and guaranteed to be original. It's an authentic old print from the aforementioned publication, and NOT A REPRODUCTION.The print is 3" x 3 1/2". Matted the print measures 6" x 8". This is a standard size mat that will fit into a standard size frame--no costly custom frames required.THOUSANDS OF VINTAGE PRINTS & ANTIQUE ENGRAVINGS IN OUR STORE. PLEASE TAKE A LOOK.ALL OF OUR MATTED PRINTS ARE WRAPPED IN A CLEAR CELLOPHANE ENVELOPE THAT PROTECTS THE PRINT DURING SHIPPING AND IS PERFECT FOR GIFT GIVING.About The MatsAll of our prints are bevel matted in a very high quality, and simple off-white/ivory matting. The backing, WHICH IS NOT ATTACHED TO THE PRINT, also meets the same high quality standard. We take pride in what we sell--look at our feedback.All mats are acid-free and the small piece of tape used to attach the print to the top of the mat is artists tape. This print is truly ready to be framed and preserved.Some Comments About Our Mats:Always a wonderful transaction. Will buy again. Awesome Prints & Mats!!!!!Incredible Print. Fab pkg. Rapid ship. Gorgeous Mat. Great communication. A+wonderful item....well matted....packed well, quick delivery....aaaa serviceBeautiful Print. Awesome Mat! Fab pkg. Rapid ship. Bought 4 MORE! A++++As always, a very fine print & mat, well-packed & promptly shipped: A+This print is better than I imagined, the mat is fabulous, everything is perfectTHANK YOU! JUST AS DESCRIBED. GREAT MATTING! A+A+A+Great vendor. Nicely packaged and matted. Highly recommend this vendor.Great matted print, excellent transaction in every way, A+++ - thank you!Thanks.... great item and nicely matted and shipped!!!Beautiful print and matte, great shape, great packaging, quick service.beautiful picture and well mattedVery fast shipping, nicely matted, and a nice print.Beautifully matted, just as described. A+ seller!Great print artfully matted. Prompt service. Thanks.Lovely bookplate, well-matted; many thanks for a Wulfing illo I never saw beforeGreat service-prompt delivery-beautifully matted-perfection! Will buy from againCute little picture, nicely matted. Thank you!Very nice matted print! Arrived in great condition! Thanks!MAGNIFICENT!!!!!!!!!!! SUPERBLY PRESENTED!!!!! BRILLIANTLY PACKAGED!!!!Quality merchandise, well matted, timely delivered.Nice product wonderful Matting jobMatting was beautifully done and print was in excellent condition. Thank you!About Clare Turlay NewberryClare Turlay Newberry was born in Enterprise, Oregon, but spent most of her childhood in Vancouver, Washington. As a small child she worshipped cats, and when she began to draw at the age of two kittens were her favorite subject. As she grew older she planned to be a writer and illustrator of children's books, and after a year at the University of Oregon she spent two years in art schools in Portland and San Francisco. Later she went to Paris, where she studied another two years and wrote and illustrated her first picture book, Herbert the Lion, which was the expression of her own childhood desire to have a lion as a pet.The following year she went to New York to live, and here for the first time she began to draw and paint domestic cats from life. Also she continued her study of the big felines at the Central Park and Bronx zoos.Mittens, published in 1936, established her reputation as a painter of cats. In the five years after the publication of Herbert the Lion complete change had taken place in her technique. The Mittens illustrations, although strongly decorative in feeling, give an astonishingly realistic effect of life and fur. No one else had ever painted such convincing kittens. The book became a best seller and was chosen one of the Fifty Books of the Year by the American Institute of Graphic arts. It has since been translated into several languages.Babette, published in the following year, contains some of the artist's best work. Here the sinuous charm of the Siamese cat is expressed with an economy of means seldom seen in Occidental art. She is surer of her drawing than in Mittens, and less preoccupied with realistic detail.Since then Mrs. Newberry has written and illustrated a series of books about cats which has made her work widely known both here and abroad. She had her first one-man show in 1940 at the Arden gallery. She has continued to concentrate on the cat family and hopes eventually to paint all its members, wild as well as domestic.Her method of working requires endless patience, for cats do not hold still to be drawn. Before attempting finished work she devotes several months to daily sketching of the subject to be portrayed, making hundreds of action sketches in pencil, pen and ink, charcoal, Conte crayon, and pastel. This enables her to memorize the characteristics of the cat so completely that she can finally, without referring again to the model, execute a series of water colors that are actual portrayals of the animal.Her watercolors are usually monochrome paintings with a slight touch of color, and are done with great rapidity on soaking wet paper. The apparent ease and spontaneity of their execution, however, is the end result of many repetitions of the same design, each composition starting as a more or less realistic representation and gradually becoming organized into a satisfying continuous rhythmic movement.Mrs. Newbery's debt to the orient is obvious, but her third-dimensional quality is distinctly Western, as is her interest in the personality of her subjects. There is nothing impersonal about a Newberry cat--each one is an individual, whose characteristic facial expressions are markings are of intense interest to her. She loves the subtle tonal gradations on the body of a Siamese or a puma, the rich pattern on the coat of an ocelot or tabby short-hair, the jewel-like contrast of a feline eye. She is, in a word, obsessed with the wild beauty of the cat tribe, and feels that a lifetime is all too short a period in which to try to do justice to it. [From Cats--A Portfolio, Drawings by Clare Turlay Newberry, 1943]General InformationIf you have a question don't hesitate to contact us. We are happy to answer all questions and usually can do so within 24 hours.Return policy: Please be assured that we strive to provide our customers and potential customers with accurate descriptions and we always do our best to mention any condition issues worth noting. If you are ever dissatisfied with a purchase from us, please contact us immediately. We stand behind what we sell and will do our best to accommodate. All of our items have a full return policy, less shipping (unless we unintentionally misrepresented an item).International Shipments: International buyers please note that import duties, taxes and charges (typically collected upon delivery or pickup) are the buyer's responsibility and are not included in the item price or shipping charges. Please check with your country's customs office prior to bidding/buying to determine what these additional costs will be.Please take a look in our store. We add to our store listing several times a week. And, of course, bookmark our site for later shopping occasions.Important NoteIf you found this print on an auction, please visit our store. We only auction a small sampling of the many prints we have in each category every week. There are THOUSANDS MORE IN OUR STORE at buy it now pricing. Just enter a key word (the best way to find what you want) or take a look at all our categories. We've tried to make it very easy for you to find that special item.Our goal is to make this a site that you can go to for all your print needs at reasonable prices. We're determined to cultivate a solid following and will do whatever it takes to make that happen. read more

Items in the Price Guide are obtained exclusively from licensors and partners solely for our members’ research needs.

Flag item for content or copyright

If this item contains incorrect or inappropriate information please contact us here to flag it for review.

If you are the originator/copyright holder of this photo/item and would prefer it be excluded from our community, contact us here for removal.