Paintings with a red cat. Red cat in paintings by famous artists. And another close-up in "Sunset Boulevard II"

How to make legendary paintings by famous artists even better? Just add a cat. The creator of the FatCatArt art project, Svetlana Petrova, decided to change the usual ideas about the paintings of great artists, replacing dull conversations about classical art with a fresh look at the work of great authors.
The main character of these works is Zarathustra the Cat. It is he who becomes the living embodiment of the idea that cats are a guide to the world of art. Looking at paintings with Zarathustra, a person recognizes the name of the original, learns new concepts and even begins to read the biography of the author. Thus, he immerses himself deeper and deeper into the environment of classical painting, learns its fundamentals and composition. Zarathustra the Cat himself received the term Ready Mem.
The project aroused wide interest among the Western public. Dissertations are written on it, and works are hung in world-famous museums. In addition, in July, an exhibition with works by Svetlana Petrova opened in St. Petersburg as part of the Graffest art forum. The author’s plans include restoration of 853 paintings and an exhibition at the Rijksmuseum.

The fat red cat is the new star of the Russian Internet. Artist Svetlana Petrova from St. Petersburg inserts images of her cat Zarathustra into paintings by Rembrandt, Velazquez and Titian. For example, in a new interpretation of Rembrandt’s famous painting “Danae” from 1636, Zarathustra lies on the bed instead of a girl.

Svetlana is known in her hometown as the founder of the street art festival and the Multivision animation art festival. For several months, she has been publishing on her blog remixes of famous paintings, into which she inserts images of Zarathustra using Photoshop. “My friends in the arts called me crazy,” she says of the first reaction.

Zarathustra lived with his mother Svetlana for many years. When she died, Svetlana took the animal to her. A friend suggested using a cat for art. Then the artist, using Photoshop, tried to insert images of Zarathustra into classical paintings. The result was so funny that she decided to continue. When Svetlana emailed the remixes to her artist friends and gallery owners, they liked it. “It inspired me. I love making people laugh,” says Svetlana.

Prepared from spiegel.de

Zarathustra was the most ordinary street red cat until he came into the family of artist Svetlana Petrova. The new owner decided to experiment and, using Photoshop, placed an image of her pet on masterpieces of world painting. Svetlana’s tailed pet replaced Venus herself in Botticelli’s painting, fell into the hands of the Mona Lisa and became a heroic cat in Vasnetsov’s painting.

Zarathustra fit so well into the paintings of great artists that his fame spread throughout the world. They began to talk about the new character of famous paintings in all countries of the globe from Japan to America.

“Zarathustra has many fans because he is associated with something positive, warm, cozy and fluffy,” says Svetlana Petrova. - He is red, and he looks like a man. This is what attracts people!”

“The artists laughed until they cried!”

Zarathustra came into the family of Svetlana Petrova ten years ago - in 2005. The artist’s mother once brought home a small red-haired lump from the street, which everyone in the household immediately fell in love with. The new family member was named Zarathustra - after a character from Nietzsche's book.

“I am a philosopher by training, hence the name,” explains Svetlana. “In addition, the prototype of Zarathustra was Zaraaster, the prophet of the solar religion: the cat is red, similar to the sun.”

Svetlana’s mother pampered her pet, fed it a lot and carried it in her arms, and soon it turned from a small helpless kitten into an important, but very good-natured fat cat.

Zarathustra loves to pose for photographers. Photo: AiF/ Yana Khvatova

Three years later, the artist’s mother died, and Svetlana took Zarathustra for herself. In memory of her beloved mother, she decided to come up with a new art project together with the cat. It seemed that Zarathustra agreed. Zarathustra is a real treasure for artists and photographers: the cat loves to pose for the camera and act as a real model. Svetlana took advantage of this skill of her pet: she cut out images of the cat from photographs in the family archive and, using Photoshop, combined them with famous paintings, masterpieces of world art.

“At first I thought about still lifes of “little Dutchmen,” but for some reason I inserted Zarathustra into Rembrandt’s “Danae” instead,” the artist recalls. - I liked it, I made it again and sent it to my friends, artists and gallery owners. They just lay under the table, laughing until they cried!”

Zarathustra replaced Venus in front of the mirror in Velazquez's painting. Photo: FatCatArt / Svetlana Petrova

The result, however, turned out to be funny: a fat red cat among the mermaids met Sadko on the seabed in Repin’s canvas, drank tea with the merchant’s wife in Kustodiev’s painting, told stories with hunters painted by Vasily Perov, and even replaced Venus herself in Botticelli’s painting. Svetlana Petrova called her project “FatCatArt”.

Svetlana placed her cat on masterpieces of world painting. Photo: FatCatArt / Svetlana Petrova

The ginger cat has become a celebrity

Svetlana made a website on the Internet for Zarathustra, posted paintings there and plunged headlong into everyday affairs. Once at the Multivision festival, of which Petrova is the president, director Andrei Bakhurin approached the artist and advised her to go online.

“He said that my cat is everywhere,” says Svetlana. “It turned out that one Russian blogger reposted the paintings with Zarathustra, and then they spread all over the world and reached China, Japan and America.”

All the world's media spoke about the paintings with the red cat - the BBC channel, the Daily Mail and Spiegel and many others. Fans of the fat red cat online admired Zarathustra and even made Internet memes with him on the Internet. The “FatCatArt” project is not only touching, but also educational: many people do not recognize all the paintings that depict a cat, and this prompts them to find out its name and artist on the Internet. Thus, with the help of Zarathustra's cat, people learn high art.

The cat ended up on Michelangelo's canvas. Photo: FatCatArt / Svetlana Petrova

“For many, this is a quest,” Svetlana is sure. “You need to look at the image gallery and find out all the paintings.”

Before Svetlana, dozens of people tried to make collages with animals, but it was Zarathustra who conquered the hearts of millions of people. The secret of success is in the photogenic nature of the cat and the talent of the artist: Svetlana knows perfectly well what pose Zarathustra should take in order to fit into this or that picture.

“There is even a website on the Internet - “Order the Mona Lisa with your dog,” Svetlana laughs, “but it is not successful.”

Zarathustra judges Paris on Rubens's canvas. Photo: FatCatArt / Svetlana Petrova

The artist’s pet loves to be photographed: when he sees a person with a camera, the cat immediately goes to the center of the room and starts posing. For Zarathustra this is a kind of game from which he takes great pleasure. After the photo shoot, Svetlana inserts images of the cat into famous paintings on the computer and prints them out. Often the artist creates new elements on the canvases and paints individual details.

There is no more like Zarathustra

Fans of Zarathustra constantly ask the artist to create paintings with their pets, but Svetlana categorically refuses: she is sure that no one is better suited for paintings than her cat.

“Some cats’ fur is not suitable, others do not know how to pose, and others are also not suitable for various reasons,” says the artist. - I once became friends on the Internet with photographer Matthew and his cat Hank, a Maine Coon who was running for the US Senate. The cat is a real beauty, but it’s not suitable for paintings - that’s not it, that’s all.”

Several cats appeared on the Tower of Babel painted by Pieter Bruegel. Photo: FatCatArt / Svetlana Petrova

According to Svetlana, Zarathustra is especially close to the Russian audience, because in our minds a fat cat is associated with something kind and warm. In life, Zarathustra is exactly the same as in the paintings: good-natured and calm, and most importantly, humane. He never scratches, loves communication, comes into the room if he hears people talking about him, puts a pillow under his head before going to bed, and prefers to “eat away” stress, as many people do. Now Zarathustra weighs 10 kg.

Svetlana Petrova and Zarathustra live in peace and harmony. Photo: AiF/ Yana Khvatova

Currently, Svetlana Petrova has already created 147 works with Zarathustra. The cat ended up in Da Vinci's paintings. Titian, Bruegel, Rubens, Goya and many others. The artist’s entire apartment is filled with images of a cat: paintings with Zarathustra hang on the walls, instead of wallpaper there are prints of paintings with a cat. Svetlana’s pet looks out from the tiles in the kitchen and appears on the artist’s clothes. Even the furniture in the apartment is “cotified”: the sofa has a special compartment for Zarathustra, and a climbing device is attached to the closet. Thus, Zarathustra is a real star not only on the Internet, but also at home. Who knows, perhaps if Dali or Rembrandt had a fat red cat, they would also have made him the hero of their own paintings?

In Svetlana's apartment there are pictures of her cat everywhere. Photo: AiF/ Yana Khvatova