Tribute to Louis Wain

Louis Wain was an incredibly prolific artist, and to say he was psychotic, without also pointing out his genius, is a tremendous disservice to the man. His whimsicality made his work extraordinarily popular in the Victorian era. It's said he fell into despondency and mental illness when his popularity waned and he was no longer making enough money with his art. In today's economy nearly every artist can relate to that. His wide spread reputation as a psychotic artist began with a collection by Doctor Walter Maclay. Maclay was interested in the effect of mental illness on art. Maclay arranged pieces of Wain's art in a manner that allegedly showed a progression into schizophrenia. This collection was also popularized in a Time Life book called The Brain. However Rodney Dale authored a biography of Wain that pointed out there was no clear evidence that the progression of works in Maclay's collection was shown in chronological order, thereby casting doubt on Maclay's observations. This is not to dispute or invalidate the extent of Wain's condition or Maclay's study. Nonetheless, it should be noted that Wain published myriad paintings and drawings of cats as well as other animals, in a broad range of styles that testify to his versatility as an artist. Perhaps the images Dr. Maclay claimed were evidence of his decline were actually experimentations of an artist who was simply way ahead of his time.