After the deaths of his sisters and the haunting echoes of the war, the "electricity" in Louis’s mind grew chaotic. His cats evolved—or perhaps devolved—into kaleidoscopic, psychedelic patterns of jagged colors and fractals. They were beautiful, terrifying, and vibrating with an energy that no longer resembled the physical world.
of Victorian London and the rise of the "crazy cat person" The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
His "electrified" cats changed how a whole culture viewed animals. After the deaths of his sisters and the
of his transition from realism to "kaleidoscope cats" of Victorian London and the rise of the
Louis was a man of frantic brilliance and fragile nerves. He spent his days sketching at a blurring speed, capturing the anatomy of prize-winning bulls and the grace of racehorses to support his mother and five sisters. He was the anchor of a household he felt ill-equipped to lead, until he met Emily Richardson.