Cats are a dominant force in our history. From 9,500-year-old kitty cave paintings to modern memes, cats have had their paws on the pulse from the beginning, but why? How have cats and memes influenced modern art?
Art News: How We Can Trace the Cat’s Place in Art History
Cats have been an artistic staple from the beginning. We can trace some of their earliest appearances back to ancient Egypt, where cats weren’t just pets but symbols of power, protection, and even divinity.
In Japan, folklore and art celebrated the Maneki-neko, the “beckoning cat,” which is thought to bring good fortune and prosperity.
The jury is still out on whether millennia of reverence is the reason for the grand feline ego.
By the Middle Ages in Europe, the cat's symbolic role took a darker turn. They became associated with witches and the occult, thought to be familiars or shape-shifters.
At times, feline mysticism translated to more whimsical and mischievous depictions of cats in Renaissance art. If only they’d ever figured out how to paint a cat’s face properly.
Cats in Art
The role of the cat in art reflects not just the changing views of the animal itself but also humanity's evolving relationship with spirituality, power, and personality.
In the Renaissance, cats showed up in paintings alongside their human counterparts, hinting at themes of temptation, independence, or unpredictability.
Modern cats have taken on an even broader role, becoming more than just symbols—they’ve become human stand-ins.
From Garfield to Grumpy Cat
Feline fascination has reached new heights in the last 50 years. Garfield has been around since the 1970s and quickly became a cultural icon, embodying human traits like cynicism, laziness, and a love for indulgence.
Fast forward to today, and the internet has given us an explosion of famous felines. 2007 saw the rise of the lolcat meme before Grumpy Cat frowned her way to the forefront of art news in 2012.
Smudge, the iconic “table cat,” became a meme sensation with his gremlin expression and the viral “Woman Yelling at a Cat” meme.
Maru is a YouTube star whose playful antics showcase the simple joys of cat life. Meanwhile, Lil Bub hit the scene with a face that seemed to say, “maybe those Renaissance artists actually had it right after all.”
Why Cats?
Cats occupy a special place in history and in art. They are, at once, symbols of mysterious humanity and icons of religious power.
One reason for their popularity taps into a deep psychological pull: cats look like babies. They have big, expressive eyes and small, round faces—features that mimic a baby’s and trigger a nurturing response in us.
This “baby schema” makes us instinctively find cats cute, approachable, and a little irresistible. Beyond that, cats also embody traits many people admire: they’re fiercely independent, selective with their affection, and a little mysterious.
Translated to modern art, cats are caricatures of ourselves, and memes are the most direct representative of that. We relate to the gremlin energy of Smudge the cat. We see ourselves in the judgmental frown of Grumpy Cat.
Cats reflect what we’d often like to be: adorable, independent, a little self-centered, and entirely unapologetic. We use cat memes to represent ourselves, but it’s not just cats.
The Influence of the Art Meme
Memes have a unique relationship with art. Memes are art that is often about art—able to critique, reinterpret, and spread artistic ideas while standing as an art form of their own.
Art memes of a goofy Rennaissance cat can distill complex ideas into a simple, relatable image, inviting people to engage with art in ways that are both playful and subversive.
Meme iconography even appears in modern art. Artists like Daniel Arthur make the news in art circles for using classic media to depict modern memes. Some street artists even borrow and celebrate meme icons like Grumpy Cat. Art memes also function as a cultural shorthand, making traditional art more accessible. More recently, memes found their spot in another place normally reserved for classic media: the auction house. Memes made headlines on art news sites when the NFT craze saw some memes selling for thousands.
Memes democratize art—they’re shared, remixed, and reinterpreted by countless people, each bringing their own perspective. And in this free exchange of ideas, memes blur the line between art creation and art consumption, making everyone who interacts with them an artist in their own way.
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