The "Cat Woman" Story

 It was an ordinary day.  Going through our pie safe, looking for all the old newspapers we have saved throughout our marriage trying to find one about the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination when I realized that we weren't even married when that happened.  Naturally didn't find anything, but I did come upon a box that contained a weathered 12"x14" portfolio titled "Cats - A Portfolio" with drawings by Clare Turlay Newberry.  Showed it to Carol, asking if she knew where we got it.  She looked through it and decided it was given to her by her friend Margaret who knew Carol loved cats and after getting it from her mother's estate, decided that Carol should have it.  Margaret's a great friend!  She even gave me an old Daguerreotype of a Civil War soldier, since she knew I loved Daguerreotypes.  Well, I started to look through the portfolio and realizing the talent that I was viewing, decided to check Clare out on my computer.  

This is an illustration from her book "Babette".

Seems that Clare Turlay Newberry, who was born in 1903 in Enterprise, Oregon, was an American author and illustrator of children's books who achieved fame for her drawings of cats as well as writing books that she illustrated.  She studied at the University of Oregon, San Francisco and Paris where she studied at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere.  

From her book "Mittens".

While in Paris she wrote and illustrated her first picture book, Herbert The Lion, which was the expression of her own childhood desire to have a lion for a pet. 1932 saw her return to San Francisco and eventually to New York where she lived and drew as well as painted domestic cats and larger felines at Central Park and the Bronx zoo.  In 1936 she published Mittens which became a best seller and was chosen one of the Fifty Books Of The Year by the American institute of Graphic Arts.  In 1940 she had a one-man (or should I say person) show at the Arden Gallery.  

This is a drawing of her young ocelot, Rufus.

There is nothing impersonable about a Newberry cat - each one is an individual, whose characteristic facial expressions and markings are of intense interest to her.  In 1942 she published Marshmallow which was an endearingly and beautifully illustrated book about an adorable baby bunny who comes to live in the house of a pampered cat, and the friendship that develops between them. 

A drawing from her book "Marshmallow".

In 1946 she purchased a month-old ocelot named Joseph for $500 from a sailor who brought it from Venezuela.  After using the ocelot, now names Rufus, as a live drawing model, she offered him to a good home, but he died before that could happen.  Clare died in 1970 and since then some of her works have been re-published.  I did some more checking and found that the portfolio that I am examining is now offered  on eBay for sale for $199.  So, if you're interested, leave me a comment and we can talk price for this beautiful work of art.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.