Some works of art are so famous that we recognize them almost instantly. The masterpieces painted by the likes of Van Gogh, Botticelli, Dalí, Vermeer, and Magritte have been admired and analyzed for generations. But artist Svetlana Petrova has found a rather unusual way to make us look at them with fresh eyes: by adding one very large, very orange cat.
Her ongoing project, Fat Cat Art, places her beloved ginger cat, Zarathustra, into iconic paintings and other instantly recognizable works of art. He rarely settles for a discreet appearance in the background, either. More often than not, Zarathustra looks completely convinced that the composition was missing him all along. His poses, expressions, and impressive proportions often interact with the original composition, transforming familiar masterpieces into something ridiculous while still keeping them instantly recognizable. Bored Panda has featured Petrova and her wonderfully chubby muse before. Since then, however, the artist has continued giving Zarathustra new opportunities to leave his mark on art history. We reached out to Petrova once again, and she kindly allowed us to share another fresh selection of her work.
Scroll down to see Zarathustra confidently inserting himself into some of the world’s best-known artworks, and be sure to upvote your favorites. Then tell us in the comments: which masterpiece do you think actually looks better with a cat in it?
More info: Instagram | Facebook | fatcatart.com
#1 “Ameri-Cat Gothic”
Original artwork: “American Gothic” by Grant Wood
Image source: fatcatart
#2 “The Kitchen Maid And The Cat”
Original artwork: “The Milkmaid” by Johannes Vermeer
Image source: fatcatart
#3 “Flaming June, True Version”
Original artwork: “Flaming June” by Sir Frederic Leighton
Image source: fatcatart
#4 “Great Wave Off Cat-Nagawa”
Original artwork: “The Great Wave Of Kanagawa” by Katsushika Hokusai
Image source: fatcatart
#5 “The Son Of Cat”
Original artwork: “The Son of Man” by René Magritt
Image source: fatcatart
#6 “Madame X And Monsieur Z”
Original artwork: “Madame X (Portrait of Madame X” by John Singer Sargent
“Two exquisitely fashionable beings. Note how Zarathustra’s paw fixes the controversial strap of Madame Pierre Gautreau’s dress.”
Image source: fatcatart
#7 “Las Meowninas”
Original artwork: “Las Meninas” by Diego Velázquez
Image source: fatcatart
#8 “A Sunday On La Grande Jatte With A Grand Cat”
Original artwork: “A Sunday Afternoon On The Island Of La Grande Jatte” by Georges Seurat
Image source: fatcatart
#9 “Portrait Of Empress Eugénie, With Her Jewelry Stolen By Cat Burglars In Louvre”
Original artwork: “Portrait Of Empress Eugénie” by Franz Xaver Winterhalter
Image source: fatcatart
#10 “Washington Crossing The Delaware In A Boat Piloted By The Fat Cat”
Original artwork: “Washington Crossing The Delaware” by Emanuel Leutze
Image source: fatcatart
#11 “Whistler’s Mother With The Cat”
Original artwork: “Whistler’s Mother (Portrait of Artist’s Mother)” by James McNeill Whistler
Image source: fatcatart
#12 “The Siesta With Guardian Cats”
Original artwork: “The Siesta” by Vincent Van Gogh
Image source: fatcatart
#13 “The Boy Blowing Soap Bubbles And The Cat Hunting Them. Allegory On The Transitoriness And The Brevity Of Life… Or Of A Diet Dinner”
Original artwork: “Boy Blowing Soap Bubbles. Allegory on the Transitoriness and the Brevity of Life” by Karel Dujardin
Image source: fatcatart
#14 “Catzilla Pops-Up Under The Mannen Bridge At Fukagawa”
Original artwork: “Under the Mannen Bridge at Fukagawa” by Katsushika Hokusai
Image source: fatcatart
#15 “Two Fridas And One Cat”
Original artwork: “The Two Fridas” by Frida Kahlo
Image source: fatcatart
#16 “The Cat On Van Gogh’s Chair”
Original artwork: “Van Gogh’s Chair” by Vincent Van Gogh
“The commonly known version of the painting (last image) is supposed to be a surrogate portrait, representing the personality of the artist. But who can better express a human’s personality than their cat?
On the true version, you may see vast improvements: the pipe from the commonly known painting (last image) is pushed down on the floor, tobacco from the pouch is scattered, and the large ginger cat proudly occupies the liberated chair.
The noble beast looks bravely into the future, anticipating his servant’s return, his portrait created, and his tasty fee for modeling consummated.”
Image source: fatcatart
#17 “Bacchus: Wine vs. Catnip”
Original artwork: “Bacchus” by Caravaggio
Image source: fatcatart
#18 “The Nightmare Cat”
Original artwork: “The Nightmare” by Henry Fuseli
Image source: fatcatart
#19 “The Cat In Christina’s World”
Original artwork: “Christina’s World” by Andrew Wyeth
Image source: fatcatart
#20 “The Blue Boy And The Ginger Cat”
Original artwork: “The Blue Boy” by Thomas Gainsborough
Image source: fatcatart
#21 “The Lady Of Shalott, Floating To Cat-Melot”
Original artwork: “The Lady of Shalott” by John William Waterhouse
Image source: fatcatart
#22 “La Fornarina And The Cat”
Original artwork: “La Fornarina (Portrait of a Young Woman” by Raphael
Image source: fatcatart
#23 “Forget The Straw Manikin Or Playing With Your Cat”
Original artwork: “The Straw Manikin (El pelele)” by Francisco de Goya
Image source: fatcatart
#24 “The Abduction Of Psyche And The Fat Cat”
Original artwork: “The Abduction of Psyche” by William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Image source: fatcatart
#25 “A Fisherman Catches Catzilla By His Whiskers In Kajikazava In Kai Province”
Original artwork: “Kajikazawa in Kai Province” by Katsushika Hokusai
“While Catzilla surfed in the troubled waters near a rock, the fisherman standing on it managed to grasp his extremely long whiskers.
Now the lucky guy pulls the giant beast from the sea, while Catzilla turns his noble head to see who dares to interrupt his promenade.
Just compare the true version to the commonly known one, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (last image)
You see only the ends of Catzilla’s whiskers in the hands of the fisherman! No Catzilla himself in the view!
But just wait for it, the fisherman will pull stronger, and the meownster will appear from the sea in all his fur-ious beauty!”
Image source: fatcatart
#26 “The Dance Class: Zarathustra The Cat Teaches The Young Ballerina To Dance Pas-De-Chat”
Original artwork: “The Dance Class” by Edgar Degas
Image source: fatcatart
#27 “Ophelia And Cats”
Original artwork: “Ophelia” by John Everett Millais
Image source: fatcatart
#28 “When Will You Marry, Cat Lover?”
Original artwork: “When Will You Marry?” by Paul Gauguin
Image source: fatcatart
#29 “Young Hare And Wise Cat”
Original artwork: “Young Hare” by Albrecht Dürer
Image source: fatcatart
#30 “Lady Guoguo’s Spring Ride On Her Cat”
Original artwork: “Lady Guoguo’s Spring Outing” by Zhang Xuan
Image source: fatcatart
#31 “Music-Making Angels And Singing Cats”
Original artwork: “Christ Surrounded by Singing and Music-making Angels” by Hans Memling
Image source: fatcatart
#32 “Young Woman Drawing A Cat”
Original artwork: “Young Woman Drawing” by Marie-Denise Villers
“Behind every great woman, there is a great cat. And maybe not one, just check DB the Cat in the window behind.
There was a lot of historical injustice surrounding this painting: it was attributed to Jacques-Louis David at a time when humans thought a woman was incapable of creating such a brilliant scene. Later, it was realized to be Marie-Denise Villers’ work, maybe even a selfie of the artist!
But of course, they cut cute cats off the painting, because these pretending to be high-browed art critics thought that a selfie with a cat was mere kitsch!”
Image source: fatcatart
#33 “Sedan Chair”
Original artwork: “Sedan Chair” by Maurice Leloir
Image source: fatcatart
#34 “The Wounded Angel With Their Cat”
Original artwork: “The Wounded Angel” by Hugo Simberg
Image source: fatcatart
#35 “Ginger Morning Sun”
Original artwork: “Morning Sun” by Edward Hopper
Image source: fatcatart
#36 “Goundhog Day”
Original artwork: “Bill Murray as Mona Lisa” by Charles McFarlane
Image source: fatcatart
#37 “Reverend Robert Walker Skating On Duddingston Loch With His Cat”
Original artwork: “The Skating Minister” by Sir henry Raeburn
Image source: fatcatart
#38 “Cat Lovers Reunited”
Original artwork: “The Lovers” by René Magritte
Image source: fatcatart
#39 “Mewrilyn Mewonroe”
Original artwork: “Marilyn Monroe” by Andy Warhol
Image source: fatcatart
#40 “Oculus, In Search Of Lost Time And Dinner”
Original artwork: “Oculus” by Andrea Mantegna
Image source: fatcatart
#41 “A Bar At The Folies-Bergère: True Version”
Original artwork: “A Bar at the Folies-Bergère” by Édouard Manet
Image source: fatcatart
#42 “Carpet Merchants Or Cat’n’carpets”
Original artwork: “The Carpet Merchant” by Jean-Léon Gérôme
Image source: fatcatart
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