Cornelis Raaphorst, Interior With Kittens & Fish Bowl

Cornelis Raaphorst, Interior With Kittens & Fish BowlThis early 20th century oil on canvas by Dutch artist Cornelis Raaphorst (1875 1954) depicts several kittens gathered around a glass fishbowl. It exemplifies the artists celebrated approach to animal painting and combines technical precision with a sense of domestic theatre. A moment of quiet tension unfolds at the centre of the composition. Four kittens, each distinct in character, circle a fishbowl with varying degrees of curiosity and restraint.

in this instance

and red sash

It’s plausible that she was living near her sister at the time

The pair spent their later years at Rumford Street where the 1871 census records them as living with their daughter and two servants

the National Portrait Gallery

A characterful early 20th-century portrait of a lady in a blue dress by Swedish artist

so perhaps that’s her in the white bonnet

Its form recalls the vocabulary of Scottish baronial architecture

The painting is unsigned

observation

And on our left

an area he excelled in