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NINETEENTH-CENTURY SCHOOL
The Cat, the Bird and the Girl or Temptation
Oil on panel
Unsigned
Oil on panel, unsigned
33 x 24.5 cm (oval) - 13 x 9 5/8 in. (oval)
Provenance
Private collection, France
Note
The theme of Cat and Bird is lust, the irrepressible desire to possess. At first glance, the victim should identify with the weaker sex, subject to male voracity. But the image often works in reverse: the bird and the cat retain their usual sexual symbolism, of fragile virility and insatiable feminine appetite. It's this ambivalence that makes the theme so interesting.
The Cat, the Bird and the Girl or Temptation
Oil on panel
Unsigned
Oil on panel, unsigned
33 x 24.5 cm (oval) - 13 x 9 5/8 in. (oval)
Provenance
Private collection, France
Note
The theme of Cat and Bird is lust, the irrepressible desire to possess. At first glance, the victim should identify with the weaker sex, subject to male voracity. But the image often works in reverse: the bird and the cat retain their usual sexual symbolism, of fragile virility and insatiable feminine appetite. It's this ambivalence that makes the theme so interesting.