Posterior Pounce Party, 1990.
Scented acrylic on colored card.
Property of the Megan Williams Feline Trust, Boughton under Blean, UK.
71 x 48cm.

Artist
Rumage, an eight-year-old tortoise-shell, will only paint when another image is placed next to her canvas. It is difficult to ascertain whether she means her image to compete with the first one (perhaps in some territorial way), or whether her painting is simply an extrapolation of its inherent message as she sees it. Then again, as Rumage's images bear little if any relationship to the first, they could conceivably be entirely original perceptions which draw, in only the most oblique manner, from the initial stimulus of the accompanying artwork.

Curatorial Notes
"...like many contemporary feline artists, Rumage draws from a wide range of sources, in this case early Yugoslavian folk art, Renaissance painting, Australian bark scratchings and Van Gogh. Such eclecticism can lead to creative drifting, but Rumage's vision is securely anchored by her steadfast fascination in the interchangeability of small rodent body parts which figure prominantly in all her work as metaphores for the novelty and excitement of new relationships." Peter Williams, exhibition catalog, London, 1994.

Cat Owner's comments: "Rumage is particularly fond of Van Gogh's paintings which could have something to do with an empathetic reaction on her part to the swirling fur-like nature of Van Gogh's brush strokes. On the other hand I've often thought that Van Gogh's cypresses are very much like cats' tails and cats do signal with their tails, so perhaps her painting is like some kind of return tail signal." Mrs J. Taylor

Sent In By: Mrs Jo Taylor of Cantebury, UK.

Estimated Value: As this work bears only indirect reference to Van Gogh's study of a Cypress which it was painted next to, it cannot be down-graded as a Copy Cat Work, and should therefore fetch around $7,000 to $10,000 (MONPA).