Louis Wain (5 August 1860 – 4 July 1939) was an English artist best known for his drawings, which consistently featured anthropomorphized large-eyed cats and kittens. In his later years, he may have suffered from schizophrenia (although this claim is widely disputed among many specialists if this is true or not), which, according to some psychiatrists, can be seen in his works. Wain’s painting belongs to the art style known as Art brut.

Wain was born with a cleft lip and the doctor told his parents that he should not be sent to school or taught until he was ten. As a youth, he was often truant from school and spent much of his childhood wandering around London. He subsequently studied at the West London School of Art and was eventually a teacher there for a short period. Wain soon quit his teaching position to become a freelance artist. In this role, he achieved great success. He specialized in drawing animals and country scenes, and worked for several journals including the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, where he stayed for four years; and The Illustrated London News, where he began in 1886.

In 1886, Wain’s first drawing of anthropomorphized cats, “A Kittens’ Christmas Party”, was published in the Christmas issue of the Illustrated London News. It depicted 150 cats, many of which resembled Peter, engaged in activities such as sending invitations, holding a ball, playing games, and making speeches. It spread across eleven panels. The cats remain on all fours, unclothed, and without the variety of human-like expression which would characterize Wain’s later work. In subsequent years, his cats began to walk upright, smile broadly and use other exaggerated facial expressions, and wear sophisticated, contemporary clothing

Over the next 30 years, Wain was a prolific artist. He produced as many as several hundred drawings a year, and he illustrated about 100 children’s books. His work appeared in papers, journals, and magazines, including the Louis Wain Annual, which ran from 1901 to 1915. His work was also reproduced on picture postcards, now highly valued collectors’ items. In 1898 and 1911 he was chairman of the National Cat Club.