A Massive 19th Century Painting Featuring 42 Cats Sells for $826,000 at a Sotheby’s Auction

My Wife's Lovers by Austrian painter Carl Kahler is a massive six-foot by eight-and-a-half-foot painting that recently sold at Sotheby's auction for $826,000 in New York City. The 1891 painting was commissioned for Kate Birdsall Johnson by her husband who gave the work its wry title in reference to his wife's love of cats. Johnson owned 350 cats, but the painting features just 42 of them.

San Francisco millionaire Kate Birdsall Johnson might be the greatest #cat enthusiast in US history. In 1891, she commissioned Austrian artist Carl Kahler to create a large-scale painting of 42 of her 350 much-loved cats, which her husband lightheartedly titled 'My Wife's Lovers'. Video at link in bio! The work is on view at Sotheby's #NYC headquarters from 30 October - 2 November, ahead of the 19th Century European Art sale on 3 November. #NationalCatDay #CatsOfInstagram #meow ????

A photo posted by Sotheby's (@sothebys) on Oct 29, 2015 at 9:27am PDT

photo via Sotheby's

via Artnet