A short-haired calico cat and two kittens lie down or play with a ball of yarn in this horizontal painting. To our left, the largest cat has markings in honey brown and black over its face and along its spine, and the rest of its fur is white. Most of its body disappears behind a lace-trimmed cloth hanging along the left edge of the painting but it lies down so its chest faces us and it looks at us with piercing yellow eyes. One kitten lies in front of the larger cat so all four legs and its tail face us. It has caramel-brown, gray, and black stripes with white patches on its nose, chest,…
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Cat and Kittens

American 19th Century

c. 1872/1883

Medium
oil on millboard
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
overall: 30 x 34.9 cm (11 13/16 x 13 3/4 in.) ; framed: 38.4 x 43.2 x 2.5 cm (15 1/8 x 17 x 1 in.)
Culture
American
Museum
National Gallery of Art, CAB
Credit line
Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch
Rights
Public domain (NGA Open Access, CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed

View at the National Gallery of Art