Cat and Skull, 2003
Signed and dated 'Craxton 2003', upper right
Tempera on canvas
36.5 x 56 cm (14 1/4 x 22 in)
£38,000
'Cat and Skull, a light-hearted memento mori, clearly contains a reference to Andy Warhol's Skull
paintings, particularly apparent in the use of colour. Interestingly, the Christmas card design featuring
this image predates the painting by a year. This was sometimes Craxton's method of working: to try out
an idea first in a Christmas print and then elaborate it into a painting. Or perhaps the idea had simply
been in his mind for some time, and surfaced occasionally. Certainly, the image that became Craxton's
Christmas card for 1997, Cats and Chair (page 101 of Craxton's Cats), did not emerge as a tempera
painting until 2003.' (Andrew Lambirth, Craxton's Cats, Thames & Hudson, London, 2024, p.104)
Provenance
John Craxton Estate
Literature
Andrew Lambirth, Craxton's Cats, Thames & Hudson, London, 2024, pp.104-105 (ill. col.)
Exhibited
London, Royal Academy of Arts, Summer Exhibition, 2nd June – 10th August 2003, cat. no. 629
London, Osborne Samuel, Craxton's Cats, 19th September – 4th October 2024
