In this lavishly illustrated and thoroughly researched book, Heather Busch and Burton Silver outline the many different aspects of feline creativity and offer a detailed examination of representative works from the best-known cat artists around the world. Should the marks a cat makes be treated as art, or are they simply forms of territorial behavior This photographic record of cat creativity will intrigue.

Now, Why Cats Paint presents a cogently argued theory based on recent evidence which clearly supports the view that some cats' marks are aesthetically motivated and should be regarded as genuine works of non-primate art. Why do cats sit for long periods in self-absorbed reflection? Why do they purr? What is happening when they suddenly rush madly about? And why do they lie on their backs and look at things upside down? All these questions, and more, are now able to be answered within the very understandable context of art. The fact that some domestic cats are able to make marks with paint has always been explained by biologists as an instinctive form of territorial marking behavior. In the meanwhile, we shall have to make do with their remarkably entertaining books, which include Why Cats Paint (1994, still my favorite) and Dancing With Cats (1999, astonishingly silly).

Now, Why Cats Paint, presents a cogently argued theory based on recent evidence which clearly supports the view that some cats' marks are aesthetically motivated and should be regarded as genuine works of non-primatic art.Īs well as being an unprecedented photographic record of the artistic cat at work, Why Cats Paint also explains many aspects of everyday cat behavior for the first time. Lets hope Burton Silver and Heather Busch put together a travelling exhibit of their wonderful photos. The fact that some domestic cats are able to make marks with paint has always been explained by biologists as an instinctive form of territorial marking behavior.

Why Cats Paint by Heather Busch