Kat 1880 - 1946

This is 'Kat', a monochrome woodcut made by Henri van der Stok, at an unknown date. I really get the feeling that Henri knew cats. Just look at the direct stare, the curled paws, and the confident lines of the print. I can imagine him carefully carving away at the woodblock, thinking about how to capture the essence of the cat’s being in simple, but powerful, lines. There's a real conversation happening here, isn’t there? Henri is clearly chatting to all those artists who had cats, and painted cats, and lived with cats. Artists are magpies, constantly borrowing and referencing one another. Henri’s cat is a cheeky homage to cats that have come before. It’s a painting, but also a space of possibility, where ideas bounce and change. It is so open to interpretation, that we can bring our own readings and lived experiences to the work. It's a constant exchange, and that's what makes it alive, and worth looking at.