Red cat in the paintings of famous artists. Russian artist adds her fat ginger cat to famous paintings Ginger cat has become a celebrity

“If a picture excites rumors, and even lively ones, it means that there is something in it; therefore, art can play a role of a somewhat higher order than the decoration and amusement of life. "

(Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy)

"What do you mix your colors with?" "I mix them with my brains, sir." (Answer by English artist John Opie)

"This lady can already choose who she will impress."
(Faina Ranevskaya about the Sistine Madonna)

In our paradoxical world, many people recognize the names of world masterpieces of painting only because they saw on the Internet a series of famous collages by the St. Petersburg artist Svetlana Petrova, who posted photos of her ginger cat Zarathustra to famous paintings of all times and genres.

Leonardo da Vinci. Mona lisa

Imposing handsome and fat man Zarathustra became a celebrity and a favorite on all continents, and even turned into a character of the successful project "FatCatArt" and the famous Internet meme - " Ready mem«.

Do you know that Zarathustra has a follower - a cute house hedgehog with a cool name " Princess Perdita Pricklepants?

Now about the celebrities in order.

Lucky for Zarathustra, definitely lucky! But he could have easily disappeared in bad weather on St. Petersburg street, if the mother of the artist Svetlana Petrova had not taken pity on the tiny red lump and brought it to her home in 2005.

Photo: AiF / Yana Khvatova

Diego Velazquez. Equestrian portrait of Philip IV

Zarathustra is just a godsend for artists and photographers - when he sees a person with a camera, he goes to the middle of the room and poses with pleasure, perceiving the creative process as a game.

Now Zarathustra has photo sessions with professional photographers, and even has a team that entertains him. And when a celebrity cat deigns to be out of sorts, then you have to wait for the desired expression of a cute cat face for months. Well, so he is already a respectable gentleman for 12 years, probably tired of all this fuss.

Salvador Dali, The Persistence of Memory

Svetlana inserts digital images of a cat in Photoshop into famous paintings. Sometimes he replaces one of the original characters, and in other cases, the cat appears mysteriously in a wide variety of plots. Then the artist prints the collage and applies it to the canvas. Sometimes she draws in the necessary details using textured gels and oils to connect the images as accurately as possible.

Claude Monet, Swimming by the Water Lily Bridge

“Sometimes people don’t realize that this is not an original painting,” my friend went to the airport with a present, one of my works framed in a museum style frame. And it was very difficult for her to prove to the customs officers that it was not an ancient work of art.

She tried to explain: "You think an 18th century artist would paint cats instead of horses." She even had to scratch the painting with her nails to show that there was a print underneath the paint.

Jan Vermeer of Delft, Thrush and cat

According to Svetlana, Zarathustra is the closest in spirit to the Russian audience, since he is a very kind, fat and somewhat fairy-tale character.

“Zarathustra has many fans because he associates with something positive, warm, cozy and fluffy, - Svetlana Petrova considers. - He is red-haired, and he himself looks like a man. This is what attracts people! "

Shishkin, Morning in a pine forest

And here is how wonderful Zarathustra himself appears on his website: "

« Our name is Zarathustra. We are a cat. We are the best cat in the world, according to our assistant, whom for some reason the laymen call our mistress. By the will of the highest lot, we are deprived of base instincts, and all our afternoon time (and we graciously love to eat) we tend to indulge in reflections on the High.
And we also really, very, very much love art.

Our passion is to pose for great creators, only the great are able to appreciate our mighty become and exalted soul. "

Zarathustra is good at paintings of various eras and styles. Under the spoiler, you can admire his other adventures.

New adventures of the Cat Zarathustra

Rubens. The judgment of Paris

Botticelli, Spring

Vasnetsov, The Knight at the Crossroads

Van Dyck, Drunken Silenus, supported by satyrs

Salvador Dali. Sleep caused by the flight of a bee around a pomegranate, a second before awakening

Edouard Manet. Bar at the Folies Bergeres

Leonardo da Vinci. Lady with a cat pretending to be an ermine

Peter Claesz, Still Life with a Cat Interested in Turkey Pie.

Titian. Venus with organist and Cupid Sandro Botticelli. Pallas and the cat (centaur)
Alexey Venetsianov. In field. Spring. Cats on arable land. Peter Paul Rubens. Three Graces Ivan Argunov, Portrait of an Unknown Woman in a Russian Costume and a Famous Cat in a Veterinary Collar
Paul Cezanne, The Cat Poker Players Edgar Degas Red-haired dancer. (Dancers on stage)

Vasily Pukirev, Unequal marriage. The people of Russia will be with the Cat, whether the people want it or not

Jan Vermeer, Girl with a pearl earring and a ginger cat

Jean-Leon Gerome, Cat Pygmalion and Galatea

Rubens. The judgment of Paris
Aivazovsky, Ninth Wave, or Ninth Life
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Tower of Babel, 1565, diptych, part 2
Willem Claesz Heda, Breakfast with crab. Kote and krabe. 1648
Michelangelo, Creation of the Cat
Botticelli, Spring

Karl Bryullov, Cat Rider

Titian, Venus of Urbino, Happy Together
Vasnetsov, The Knight at the Crossroads
Kazimir Malevich, Red Square, or Suprematist Cat

And in the next story I will tell you about a funny successor (or rather about a wannabe 🙂) of Zarathustra's cat - a hedgehog with a cool name Princess Perdita Pricklepants (Princess Perdita Pricklepants)

Note. This article uses photographic materials, all rights to which belong to their authors, if you think that the publication of any photograph violates your rights, please contact me using the form in the section, the photo will be immediately removed.

How to make legendary paintings by famous artists even better? Just add a cat. The creator of the FatCatArt art project, Svetlana Petrova, decided to change the usual ideas about the paintings of great artists, replacing dull talk about classical art with a fresh look at the work of great authors.
The main character of these works is the cat Zarathustra. It is he who becomes the living embodiment of the idea that cats are a guide to the world of art. Looking at the paintings with Zarathustra, a person recognizes the name of the original, learns new concepts and even begins to read the author's biography. Thus, he plunges deeper and deeper into the environment of classical painting, learns its foundations and composition. The Cat Zarathustra himself received the term Ready Mem.
The project attracted widespread interest among the Western public. Theses are written on it, and the works are displayed in world famous museums. In addition, in July in St. Petersburg, within the framework of the Graffest art forum, an exposition with works by Svetlana Petrova was opened. The author's plans include the restoration of 853 paintings and an exhibition at the Rijksmuseum.

The fat ginger cat is the new star of the Russian Internet. Artist Svetlana Petrova from St. Petersburg inserts images of her cat Zarathustra into paintings by Rembrandt, Velazquez and Titian. So, for example, in a new interpretation of the famous painting by Rembrandt "Danae" in 1636, Zarathustra is lying on the bed instead of the girl.

Svetlana is known in her hometown as the founder of the street art festival and the festival of animation art "Multivision". For several months she has been publishing remixes of famous paintings on her blog, in which she inserts images of Zarathustra using Photoshop. “My art friends called me crazy,” she says of the first reaction.

Zarathustra lived with Svetlana's mother for many years. When she died, Svetlana took the animal to her. A friend suggested using the cat for art. Then the artist, using Photoshop, tried to insert images of Zarathustra into classical paintings. The result was so funny that she decided to continue. When Svetlana sent the remixes by e-mail to her fellow artists and gallery owners, they liked it. “It inspired me. I like to make people laugh, ”says Svetlana.

Based on materials from spiegel.de

One of the main mysteries of world art has been solved! The secret of Mona Lisa's half-smile, which for centuries excited the best minds of mankind, turned out to be easy prey for the cat Zarathustra and his mistress, the Russian artist Svetlana Petrova.

Mona Lisa with a cat and other surprises

It's simple: the famous La Gioconda smiles so mysteriously because she is holding a charming ginger cat in her arms.

Have you been to the Louvre and saw with your own eyes the Mona Lisa without Zarathustra? The hostess is sure: if Leonardo da Vinci lived these days, for sure, Mona Lisa would appear with a cat - as in this photo. Well, the artist could not resist the charm of her pet! Like dozens of other outstanding painters.

It was the mistake of the universe that Svetlana Petrova decided to correct. Fortunately, her favorite loves to take picture poses. She caught the necessary moments with a camera, then added simple computer manipulations. This is how a charming ginger cat appeared in the paintings of famous artists, and he chose exclusively legendary canvases.

Here he is on Michelangelo's painting in the Sistine Chapel.

Now in the role of a centaur on the masterpiece by Sandro Botticelli.

The cat does not disdain the role of a card player at Paul Cézanne.

And even haystacks on the canvas by Claude Monet.

But the pet looks especially harmoniously in the role of the beautiful goddess Venus, the mistress is sure!

It doesn't matter that you are overweight. The main thing is the languor of the pose. This cannot be taken away from Zarathustra - especially after a delicious dinner.

This is a mustachioed "goddess" on Diego Velazquez's canvas "Venus in front of a mirror."

And this is again Botticelli - "The Birth of Venus."

And now Titian's Venus and the Organist.

To the latter, Zarathustra, apparently, turned his head so that the artist got confused ... He has a cat and Venus herself - and her lover. As in the painting "Venus of Urbinskaya".

Lost his head from the cat and Claude Monet.

On the famous "Water Lilies" Zarathustra is depicted three times. And on the bridge, and on the shore, and in the water.

Three cats are also on the canvas "Time" by Salvador Dali.

Even the main muse of the surrealist Gala did not receive such an honor!

But the most passionate admirer of the purr was Ivan Shishkin.

Here is his famous "Morning in a Pine Forest", where there are 4 Zarathustras at once!

And it doesn't matter that the artists lived in different eras and in different countries. Such beauty, like that of her Zarathustra, is beyond time and space - says Svetlana! Cats cannot be denied picturesqueness, and red ones in particular!

Tatiana Larionova

Red cat in the paintings of famous artists