Henriëtte Ronner-Knip – Immodest, 1897

by Atelier Liesjes

An antique, richly carved wooden cabinet is the setting for a little adventure. The mother cat lies on top, between a glass carafe and a yellow silk cloth, listless and with one eye open; beside her, one of her kittens stretches out lazily. Down below, the commotion has begun: a white, fluffy kitten is standing on its hind legs against the open flap door, a black-and-white kitten is scrambling to follow, and a little black head is peering over the edge of the flap. In the open drawer at the bottom, a red-and-white kitten sits upright, gazing at the viewer with round eyes. A red ribbon hangs casually along the wood carving; on the left, a green cloth slides off the floor. Ronner-Knip painted this domestic scene with the precision of a portraitist. The cats’ coats are almost touchable: the mother’s long hair, the little ones’ short, woolly coats, the white whiskers against the dark wood. She placed the animals in a rich, nineteenth-century setting – a Neo-Renaissance cabinet, a tapestry in the background, a carafe catching the light – and thus transformed an everyday moment into a small painting brimming with stories. The colours are warm and deep: dark brown, golden yellow, ivory white, black and a single touch of red. The style is Romantic Realism, with a graceful, virtuoso touch. The title * 'Onbescheiden' * (Cats in the Kitchen) sums up the theme perfectly: the curiosity of cats meddling in other people’s affairs. The feeling the work evokes is one of cosiness and pleasure – the smile of recognition.
Henriëtte Ronner-Knip (Amsterdam 1821 – Ixelles 1909) was a Dutch-Belgian painter and animal artist. She was trained by her father, Josephus Augustus Knip, settled in Brussels in 1850 and went on to become one of the most highly regarded cat painters of the nineteenth century.
A cheerful, masterful painting that brings warmth and character to any room.