'PRETTY KITTEN'
By Henriette Ronner-Knip (1821-1909)
The title is self explanatory for such a beautiful observation, captured here a hundred years ago by the artist. And it could just be here - right now today. There is something magnetic about this young ball-of-fur which rivets our eyes - waiting for the moment when suddenly it will leap up into the air with paws outstretched.
However many times we have lived with kittens, they are a source of ultimate enjoyment and they never seem to tire. In Victorian times they would be pets only in middle or upper class households, and few by comparison to today. Most would be kept as mouse and rat catchers and unfed by those who offered them house-room. They would have to earn their keep, just as the rest of the struggling populous.
But our pretty kitten was from a good family and would be offered morsels as well as milk to keep her fur in top condition. She would be the children's best friend and no doubt teased while trying to join in the games played within the household.
Here she is posed with her paws tucked below her pure white bib. What is she looking at which is so fascinating? Whatever it is, the nature of a kitten is to watch only moving objects and anticipate their next move. The instinctive preparation for capture and possession is natural to the whole feline family, whether it is our Pretty Kitten or her far off cousins; those lions and tigers in the wilds of Africa and Asia.
Henriette Ronner was born and lived in Holland where she became a specialist in painting cats in almost every way conceivable. She studied in Amsterdam under her father J. A. Knip where she painted genre and other animals. She signed her earlier paintings Henriette Knip. After her marriage, Henriette Ronner, or Ronner-Knip. To this day no single artist has been able to compete with her talent in this specialist subject. She captured the moments of play and contentment in such natural ways that have brought enjoyment to a public which she probably would never have conceived. The Museum of Amsterdam has a collection of her paintings. She lived during a period which saw many changes in World history, yet her cats are immortalised and appear to us the same as they were all those years ago.
