WAIN, 'BE DAD AN' WE'LL LOVE YER!', INK, 1907

413 by 311mm., pen and ink, signed, mounted, framed and glazed

Louis Wain's Annual 1907 (London, 1907) page 46; Chris Beetles, Louis Wain’s Cats (London, 2011) page 114

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Louis Wain and his cats were Political Animals and held strong views boldly spoken. The freewheeling content of the Annuals, apparently devoid of editorial control, gave voice to some of these opinions and Wain used them like a soap box orator. Indeed, the cat cartoons have all the fascination that is felt at Speakers’ Corner: eccentric views, both general and obscure, mixed together and forcibly expressed to the great entertainment of everybody, none of whom has the slightest idea what he is going on about. Wain's cartoons seemed to mask his own views with confused and contradictory captioning, but in his letters to magazines and newspapers his optimistic views were clear. These letters show him to be a capitalist, loyalist and colonialist who believed in Free Trade. Though he expressed these views as a commentator, his political cartoons are less satire and more graphic reportage, with slight added irony at best.

Thomas Power O’Connor was an influential Irish nationalist politician and respected journalist, who represented Liverpool as an MP from 1885 until his death in 1929. Augustine Birrell was Chief Secretary for Ireland from January 1907 until his resignation in 1916. There were complex and divided times in Anglo-Irish politics and Wain flags up every banner of problematical dissent. So the cat on the left holds the stick of Home Rule in his hand symbolising his attempt to get through his Irish Council Bill, while under his arm is the stick of Lord Clanricarde, the hated and cruel largest landowner in Ireland. A simultaneous bill was promised to evict the ageing and incompetent absentee landlord. T.P. O’Connor would famously review John D. Rockefeller’s book, Random Reminiscences of Men and Events, comparing him to Lord Clandricarde for his lack of self-reproach.