Last updated: 2 November 2026
Louis Wain (1860 to 1939) was the London artist whose drawings of cats were everywhere in Victorian and Edwardian Britain, in magazines, annuals and postcards. He spent his last 15 years in psychiatric hospitals and kept drawing there. Original Louis Wain drawings sell for thousands at auction, while Louis Wain prints made from his drawings today start at about £120.
Our take on Louis Wain as an artist
Wain is the reason so many British cats in pictures stand on their hind legs, wear clothes and get up to human mischief. He drew them for The Illustrated London News from 1884, and in the 1900s he had his own Louis Wain Annual. His cat Peter, he said, was "the foundation of my career".
We list his work because of what he made later. The Louis Wain print on our editions page is Ginger Cat, a 1931 drawing from his years at Napsbury Hospital: a fluffy ginger cat with huge green eyes in front of a dense orange, yellow and blue pattern. That bold, patterned style is what most people now picture when they hear his name, and it is also why the main image on this page is one of his late patterned cats rather than a photograph. The only photographs of him we could find online are far too small to use well.
So if you want a Louis Wain on your wall without spending thousands, a modern print is the realistic route. Just know what you are buying: a new print of his drawing, not something he made or signed.
Louis Wain: the essentials
- Born on 5 August 1860 and studied at the West London School of Art, according to Bethlem Museum of the Mind.
- His first piece for The Illustrated London News, "Our cats: A domestic history", ran in 1884, according to The National Archives.
- Married Emily Richardson in 1883; she died in January 1887. He produced the Louis Wain Annual from 1901 to 1915 (same source).
- Certified insane in June 1924 and sent to Springfield Hospital in Tooting. After a public campaign that included the Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald, he moved to Bethlem in 1925, then to Napsbury Hospital near St Albans in 1930.
- Died at Napsbury Hospital on 4 July 1939.
- Bethlem Museum of the Mind in Beckenham holds 56 of his artworks, including his Kaleidoscope Cats series (collection page).
Louis Wain exhibitions: now on and recent
We found no Louis Wain exhibition on in the UK right now. These are the most recent:
- Louis Wain and The Summer Cat Show, Chris Beetles Gallery, London, 1 to 15 August 2026.
- Louis Wain and the Cat Show, Chris Beetles Gallery, London, 9 August to 13 September 2025.
- Animal Therapy, Museum van de Geest, Amsterdam, from 13 February 2025, with Wain works lent by Bethlem.
- Animal Therapy: The Cats of Louis Wain, Bethlem Museum of the Mind, Beckenham, 4 December 2021 to 13 April 2022.
Recent Louis Wain auction results
His original drawings come up regularly in Bonhams' Modern British sales in London. Three recent lots:
- Kitten in a Pram, gouache, watercolour and pencil, 21.5 x 16.5cm (8.5 x 6.5in). Sold for £5,376 against an estimate of £2,500 to £3,500 at Bonhams, Modern British and Irish Art (online), November 2025.
- Cat as Judge, watercolour and ink on card, 17 x 16.5cm (6.7 x 6.5in), illustrated in Fun and Frolic (1902). Sold for £7,680 at Bonhams, Modern British & Irish Art, 26 March 2025.
- The Scientific Cat, watercolour and ink, 19 x 19cm (7.5 x 7.5in), from the same book. Sold for £7,680 at the same Bonhams sale, 26 March 2025.
Prices include buyer's premium. Last checked: 2 November 2026.
Where to buy Louis Wain prints
The Louis Wain print we list is Ginger Cat, a risograph from House of Voltaire, the shop that funds the Studio Voltaire gallery in Clapham. It is A3, in an edition of 100 with a certificate of authenticity, and costs £120 plus delivery. It is a new print of his 1931 drawing, so it carries only the signature that is part of the drawing.
Original drawings sell through auction houses and specialist dealers such as Chris Beetles in St James's, from the low thousands upwards. For more prints at this kind of price, our guide to the best affordable art in the UK has other picks, including this one.
For reading, Chris Beetles publishes Rodney Dale's Louis Wain: The Man Who Drew Cats as a £25 hardback.
Louis Wain FAQs
Why did Louis Wain draw cats?
His cat Peter, a kitten he and his wife Emily kept while she was ill, started it. Wain later called Peter "the foundation of my career", according to The National Archives.
Where can I see Louis Wain's work in the UK?
Bethlem Museum of the Mind in Beckenham, south-east London, holds 56 of his works, including the Kaleidoscope Cats series. Check its website for what is on display before you go.
How much is a Louis Wain worth?
Original drawings recently sold at Bonhams for between £5,376 and £7,680. Modern prints of his drawings, such as Ginger Cat, cost about £120. This isn't investment advice.
Are Louis Wain prints originals?
Not the ones on sale new today. Ginger Cat is a 2026 risograph of his 1931 drawing. Wain died in 1939, so it carries no signature beyond the one in the drawing.
More from CoolCuration
- Gifts for cat lovers: presents for anyone who would hang a Wain.
- One Day a Cat Came to Me: a book about a cat who turns up and stays.
- Whistler at Tate Britain: our review of another Victorian Londoner.
- MUBI UK: the film streaming service, its price and free trial.
- grug: our App of the Month, a daily dose of caveman wisdom.
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Main image: Louis Wain, A cat in "gothic" style, gouache, 1925 to 1939, Wellcome Collection, CC BY 4.0. The photographs of Wain we found online were too small to use. Exhibition dates, prices, auction results and edition details last checked: 2 November 2026.
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