A couple rescued two cat paintings from a skip; years later, the Louis Wain works sold for £16,000 (Image Credit: Rogers Jones Auctioneers)
After authentication and auction, the two paintings went from being unwanted objects to £16,000 worth of Louis Wain artwork.
The paintings had been rescued from a skip and were recognised as genuine works by Wain by auctioneer and valuer Charles Hampshire, according to Rogers Jones Auctioneers. What looked like two unwanted paintings in a skip turned out to be worth thousands of pounds. A couple came across the two cat paintings while walking their dog and decided to rescue them rather than leave them behind. They took the works home, eventually gave them to their daughter-in-law and later hung them on their own walls, unaware of who had painted them. Years later, curiosity led them to investigate the pictures, and they discovered a connection to Louis Wain, the British artist renowned for his distinctive cat paintings. The paintings were not discovered in an antique shop or at a specialist art fair. They were sitting in a skip in Pembrokeshire. The couple spotted the two cat paintings while out walking their dog several years ago. Something about them caught their attention, so they decided to take them home. At first, there was no thought that they might be valuable. The couple reportedly thought one of the paintings could make a good gift for their daughter-in-law, who was fond of cats. The paintings were given to her and stayed in her home for about a year. She later returned them to the couple, who put them up in their own house. There they remained for several years. It was only much later that the pair began wondering about the artist behind the paintings. When the couple started researching the works, they came across the name Louis Wain. That discovery changed the story completely. Wain became famous in Britain for his unusual depictions of cats. His animals were often shown standing upright, dressed in human clothing or behaving like people. His illustrations appeared widely in newspapers, books and magazines, helping make his distinctive cat characters familiar to generations of people. For years, the works remained in their home without attracting much attention. Only later did research reveal their true identity. It was an ordinary dog walk that led to the discovery, but the couple ended up taking home two original works by one of Britain’s best-known artists of cats.
