My Wife's Lovers
Painting by Carl Kahler
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
My Wife's Lovers is a canvas painting by the Austrian artist Carl Kahler (1856–1906) depicting forty-two of American millionaire Kate Birdsall Johnson's Turkish Angora and Persian cats.[1][2] The title of the painting was potentially conceived by her husband,[3] who may have referred to the cats with the phrase.[4] Measuring 1.8 m × 2.6 m (6 ft × 8.5 ft), the canvas weighs 103 kg (227 lb).[5]
| My Wife's Lovers | |
|---|---|
| |
| Artist | Carl Kahler |
| Dimensions | 1.8 m × 2.6 m (6 ft × 8.5 ft) |
| Weight | 103 kg (227 lb) |
| Commissioned by | Kate Birdsall Johnson |
| Collection | Unknown |
History
Some say Johnson owned 350 cats that she housed in her summer house Buena Vista near Sonoma, California, and left them US$500,000 in her will, but this is disputed.[2] She commissioned the painting in 1891.[5] Having never painted a cat before, Kahler spent three years studying cats' poses and learning their habits.[3] He reportedly received around US$5,000 for the painting (equivalent to US$180,000 in 2025).[5] The center of the painting shows her cat Sultan, bought by Johnson during a trip to Paris.[3] Johnson lent the painting for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and in the next year it was acquired by Ernest Haquette for his Palace of Art Salon in San Francisco.[5] While the salon was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the painting survived it.[5]
Purchases and display
My Wife's Lovers subsequently hung in Frank C. Havens' Piedmont Art Gallery in Piedmont, California, and was later purchased by a couple from Chicago. In November 2015, the painting was sold at Sotheby's to a private California buyer for US$826,000.[5]
In 2016, the Portland Art Museum displayed the piece between February 2 and June 8, 2016, and partnered with the Oregon Humane Society to raise awareness of cat adoptions.[6]