From Garfield to Simon’s Cat, Krazy Kat to Bagpuss and everything in between, there is a long line of iconic cartoon cats.
Now, for the first time, The Cartoon Museum is collecting the greatest cats to grace British comics, newspapers and magazines in one place, exploring why people love cats so much and what cats tell us about life.
The exhibition – entitled Cats in Cartoons – will run from 5 April to September 2025 and will feature over 100 cartoons and comics featuring cats. These will include works by significant and well-known artists such as Louis Wain, Axel Scheffler, Ronald Searle, William Heath Robinson, Simon Tofield, Anthony Smith, Gemma Correll and Hunt Emerson, and featuring favourite characters including Garfield and Bagpuss.
Visitors will find out where the term ‘fat cat’ came from, see the crazy contraption Heath Robinson devised so his cat ‘Saturday Morning’ could feed himself, and discover the anarchic anthropomorphic influence of Louis Wain.
Throughout the exhibition there will also be an exploration of the work carried out by Battersea Dogs and Cats Home to protect and advocate for the welfare of cats. This will include interviews with staff taking visitors behind the scenes of their London cattery, which combined with the charities two other centres, benefits over 2,000 cats per year.
Staff from Battersea will share insight into the essential work they do on a daily basis and their stories from their time at the London centre, as well as highlighting how visitors can get involved in caring for cats themselves.
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