Oodles of Cats

Morteza Zahedi

Cats seem to be everywhere these days. After I wake up in the morning with my cat 's bum on my face, 

many feline faces invariably greet me as I sip my coffee while browsing through my facebook wall and pinterest. 

At the other side of the room, Seba is at work creating the cats for his 2013 calendar.

Right now, Chapi sits on my tablet licking himself as I try to find a way around him to write these words.

What can I do? I am powerless against his charm.Yes, felines can be addictive. 

Often, when artists start portraying them, they seem to find it difficult to stop... 

Here is my contribution to the madness.

Janusz Grabianski

Bill Sokol, Cats Cats Cats Cats Cats, 1958, thanks to Vintage Kids' Books My Kid Loves

Adolf Born, Le téléphone enchanté, thanks to maptitefabrique

Josef Paleček

Józef Wilkon, Rosalind das Katzenkind

Terry Runyan

Gwendal le Bec

Lydia Monks, I wish I were a dog 

Ester Garcia

 Vittorio Fiorucci

Clare Owen

Elżbieta Wasiuczyńska, thanks to Polska ilustracja dla dzieci

Karel Franta, thanks to A Polar Bear's Tale

Stella Baggott

Tadashige Nishida

If you're in the mood for more, Animalarium's archives contain a bonanza of kitties by artists-cat addicts

including Ronald Searle, Steinlen, Józef Wilkon, Saul Steinberg, Wanda Gag and my own Sebastiano.

Not to mention the wonderful cat scenes by Franco Matticchio and my upcoming series on cat books for children!

An Alphabet of Animals

I couldn't find much reliable information on the web about the Scots-Canadian illustrator and painter

 Carton Moore-Park (1877–1956). According to different sources he may have been born in New Brunswick

 or the Hebrides, and studied under the direction of Francis Newbery at the Glasgow School of Art. 

Moore-Park specialized in animal subjects, and his artistic style was strongly influenced by Japonisme. 

In 1910 he moved to the USA, where he separated from his wife and had a relationship with, and maybe married, 
fellow artist and renowned dog painter Diana Thorne (a rather interesting character in her own right according 
to this article, complete with lots of mysteries and gossip). Anyway, if my dates are correct, Moore-Park created 
the lovely and whimsical illustrations for this alphabet book when he was only 22, which I find very impressive... 

Armadillo

Elephant

Ibex

Kangaroo

Mice

Otter

Porcupine

Unicorn

Vampire bat

Weasel

Yak

Moore-Park wrote and illustrated a variety of children's books centered on animals, including

 King of the Beasts, Biffel - A Trek Hox, The Wonders of the Insect World, The Children's Story of the Bee, 

Our Dogs, The Fables of La Fontaine and A Book of Birds (available online at archive.org).

Franco Matticchio

Back to School

Louis Wain, Juvenile cat alphabet, 1910s

Jean de Brunhoff, Le Roi Babar,1933

Adrienne Ségur, Un tout petit cochon s'en allait à l'école, 1946

 Ida Bohatta-Morpurgo, Raupenìlinchen lernt fliegen,

and Ondřej Sekora, Ferdův Slabikář, thanks to micky the pixel

Richard Scarry

 Pelikan brand packaging, c.1950s, thanks to What Floats My Boat

Kozo Kakimoto, Helpful Mr. Bear, 1966, 

thanks to my vintage book collection (in book form)

Jim Flora, The Great Green Turkey Creek Monster, 1976

Viktor Pivovarov, thanks to polny_shkaf

Henri Galeron, illustration from The Geranium on the Windowsill Just Died but Teacher You Went Right On, 1971,

thanks to Vintage Kids' Books My Kid Loves

Edward Sorel

 Emily Gravett, Rabbit problem,thanks to Shelley Davies

Ian Falconer

Gebrauchsgraphik - part 1

Next Monday I start teaching courses again, and for the next nine months graphic design 

will be my bread and butter. While doing research for my history classes, I have discovered

many interesting books and publications, such the design magazine Gebrauchsgraphik.

Founded in 1924 in Berlin by professor H.K. Frensel, Gebrauchsgraphik (Commercial Graphics) 

was one of the first European journals devoted to graphic design, advertising and related subjects

 such as illustration and typography. This monthly magazine was published bilingually in German and English,

 and showcased a variety of high quality, innovative ads, posters and other graphics to an international audience. 

The works displayed often reflected the major artistic trends of the time, and during the 1920s–30s

 most commercial art was influenced by Art Deco, the Bauhaus and the avant-garde movements. 

Almost all the covers in this selection were first posted on the great website Designers Books by Sébastien Hayez. 

In the near future I am going to feature a collection of stunning covers from the 1950s. 

Cover by Julius Klinger