Giant painting of 42 Sonoma cats sells for $826,000

'My Wife's Lovers' was commissioned in the early 1890s by Kate Birdsall Johnson, who kept 350 cats on her Sonoma Valley estate.|
JENNA FISCHER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Cat pictures on the internet are over abundant, but what about an oil painted portrait of 42 life-sized cats from the 1800s?

Kate Birdsall Johnson of San Francisco had 350 cats in her summer home Buena Vista near Sonoma. Being a millionaire in the late 1800s meant Johnson had a lot of disposable money, so naturally, her cats lived in luxury – servants and all. She paid Carl Kahler $5,000 to paint a life-sized portrait of 42 of her cats named 'My Wife's Lovers.'

Since the painting's creation, it has changed hands several times over, including to the World Fair and several art exhibits and galleries. The painting even survived the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.

Recently, the painting was sold to an anonymous buyer for $826,000.

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