Julius Adam

Julius Adam was the cat painter of Munich. From 1882 he specialised in kittens and cats: tumbling out of baskets, playing with wool, waiting for dinner. His pictures are soft, warm and detailed, and the animals are observed with real care rather than turned into cartoons.

He came from a well-known family of Munich artists: his grandfather was the battle painter Albrecht Adam. He studied at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts under Michael Echter and Wilhelm von Diez, and earlier spent time in Rio de Janeiro working in landscape photography. His cat pictures became so successful that they overshadowed the rest of his work.

In paintings like Playful Kittens in a Basket, look at the fur, which he built up with fine strokes, and the way each kitten has its own character.