About the Work
This depiction of a playing cat is characterised by the use of precise brushwork and the deployment of intensive, glowing colours. The artist meticulously conveys the fabrics’ different textures, depicting the haptic quality of carpet, wool and fur in a detailed manner. The cat is vividly set off against the flat colour patterns of the floor covering. From 1900 to 1935, Richard Müller taught at the art academy in Dresden, where George Grosz was among his students. To this day the artist remains controversial because of his stance during National Socialist rule: in 1933, as a member of the NSDAP, he was involved in the organisation of the first exhibition, in Dresden, of what the Nazis deemed ‘degenerate art’. In 1944 his name was added to the ‘Gottbegnadeten-Liste’ (‘God-gifted list’), which registered artists favoured by the regime.
