FAT CAT ART BOOK REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

Famous Masterpieces Improved by a Ginger Cat with Attitude

 

We have many art books in our home, some dedicated to individual artists like Michaelangelo, DaVinci and van Gogh. Others are museum specific, for museums like Musée D’Orsay, Uffizi Gallery, The Hermitage. The newest of those books, Fat Cat Art, will take pride of place.

This 300-page book by Svetlana Petrova is filled with exquisite art featuring Zarathustra the 22-pound ginger cat. The art is inspired as is the writing. It is thoughtful and witty with Zarathustra doing a good deal of the “talking.”

Russian artist Petrova lives in St. Petersburg and states that she spent her childhood visiting The Hermitage every weekend with her mother. I’m not sure that would have been my idea of fun as child, but the adult me finds the thought of that heavenly. My one visit there sadly, I suspect, will be my only one.

But back to Fat Cat Art: Petrova began photoshopping her mother’s fat cat (now her cat), Zarathustra, into the world’s most well-known works of art. The “reworked” creations of great artists have become internet sensations (FatCatArt.com). These works are now contained in one beautifully-designed and written book.

As much as I adore cats, my first thought was, “sacrilege.” How could you mess with James Abbott MacNeill Whistler’s “Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1,” also known as “Portrait of the Artist’s Mother,” Leornardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss” or Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam” on the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling? But Petrova’s cat-centric interpretations of these great works are so masterfully done
and matched in style and technique that it is easy to imagine, as she suggests, that the ginger cat versions of these paintings were the originals.

It would be hard for me to select a favorite from all these new “masterpieces,” but being a huge fan of both Degas and Monet, I would probably have to select “The Dance Class” or “Bathing in a Pond of Water Lilies.”

Zarathustra, who refers to himself as “us” and “we” offers his thoughts throughout the book on such things as feeding the cat, kisses from humans and belly rubs. As many of the “masterpieces” include more than one of him, the plural pronoun does not seem out of place.

I could go on and on about this gem of a book, but then you would not feel compelled to read it, but you must. Zarathustra and Kitties Blue agree and say, “Buy this Book!” The enjoyment it will give you, even if you’ve never had the pleasure of sharing your home with a ginger cat, is priceless. Should you win a copy, you can always gift it to a cat-loving friend. It will most likely be the best present you will ever give them.

And yes, you read that right. Kitties Blue are giving away three copies of Fat Cat Art. We regret the giveaway is for U.S. residents only. All those leaving a comment on this post (including those from outside the U.S., who can gift their copy if they win) will be entered to win a book. Selections will be made using Random.org. Comments must be received prior to 5 p.m. EDT on Sunday, September 20.

If you absolutely cannot wait to see if you win, Fat Cat Art is available beginning today from Amazon for $8.22 and Barnes & Noble for $8.69 (retail is $14.95).

 

 

 

 

Tags: Book ReviewGiveaway