Thousands of cat images appear on the internet every day. Some are cute, some funny, and some are even beautiful or inspiring.

Featuring interviews with famous cat artists, this article explores the phenomenon of cat art as a new form of public art.

First discovered by the internet, cat art is now spreading to public spaces. Cat lovers who wish to exhibit their cats’ photographs in galleries may find it both easier and more difficult than they imagined.*

In the internet age, with its constant demand for novelty and freshness, cat art has become a new kind of folk art. It springs up spontaneously in unlikely places all over the world, inspires thousands of followers on YouTube and Instagram, and gets recognized by the art world at large.

Some cat artists have become celebrities. Now, a few museums are starting to exhibit cat art alongside paintings and sculpture by more conventional artists. Cat art is still not considered fine art, but it is starting to gain acceptance as a form that is at least worthy of study.

The roots of this new phenomenon go back to an anonymous artist who lives in Ankara, Turkey. She started drawing cats as a hobby after her husband passed away. Her work was discovered by Turkish media, which launched her into stardom. Her drawings of cats became an international sensation when they were featured on BoredPanda and BuzzFeed.

The biggest boost to her fame came when she was invited to draw cats during the Istanbul Biennial in 2015. The show was attended by thousands of people every day and covered extensively by the Turkish media.

That year the artist quit her job as a graphic designer and moved to Bursa with her cats to devote herself full-time to cat art.*

Cat art is the creation of photographs of cats that have been made to look like famous paintings. Unlike most internet memes, it is not an ironic joke; it is the product of a sincere effort to make something beautiful. Because cat art is not yet a well-established genre, there are no rules for what makes a “good” cat painting. As with all art, the standard is quality: does the cat painting make you want to say “Awww!”?

Tastes differ, but here are some cat paintings that have been found by critics to be particularly successful.

*>The Mona Cat-egory: The artist Banksy created this famous painting of a black and white cat in 2007. Several people have since made wonderful cat paintings based on it. To try your hand at this style, take a photograph of your feline friend and try to paint over him or her with colors like in Banksy’s original.

*>The Great Wave Of Spotted Cats: If you are interested in trying traditional oil painting techniques as used by human artists, you might consider this painting by Katsushika Hokusai. It shows a giant wave threatening several boats. One boat is already sunk while another has its mast broken and lies low in the water

Cats are not just pets; they are full-blown pop stars. Between the internet, YouTube, Instagram, and more traditional media, cats have taken a firm position in popular culture.

The internet cat art movement started with Maru, a Japanese cat whose pictures got shared around on the internet to the point that he became an international celebrity. His distinctive “box” pose has been replicated and imitated by thousands of other cat owners around the world.

You may think you know what a cat is like. But you may be surprised to find out that there is no such thing as a typical cat personality or attitude. All cats are different; there is no single way of being “a cat”. Some have been raised to be lap cats; others prefer to keep their distance from humans. Some are independent and willing to go out on their own; others love snuggling and cuddling with people.

~~~Cats have been a popular subject of art for thousands of years. The ancient Egyptians depicted cats in wall paintings and sculptures, often as symbols of grace and good fortune. Cats were also used for their symbolic value in other cultures, like Roman and Asian civilizations. Egyptian pharaohs would even be buried with their favorite cats mummified by their side.

Treat your cat to a unique piece of art from one of the artists below:

Kitty and C.C. aren’t like most cats. They’re famous for their art.

Kitty is a purebred Persian, but she was named after the character in The Exorcist because of her long neck and backward-bending legs. C.C. is a mixed breed with a brindled coat and one blue eye, which made him look, to his owners, like the character played by Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman .

The two cats live together in Santa Cruz, California, with Steven Hagerstrom and Amy Jacobson, both professional writers.

Their owner’s day jobs give them plenty of free time to shoulder the burdens of fame: they correspond with fans, make personal appearances, and conduct interviews with journalists like me. They also give talks to schools and youth groups—many teachers tell them that talking cats are the only way some kids will pay attention in class.*

Growing up as the only child of two working parents, I was a latchkey kid. After school, I would come home to an empty house and channel surf until dinner. One afternoon, when I had exhausted all the regular channels, I came upon a channel that showed nothing but the same thing over and over again: a cat wearing sunglasses sitting in front of an old-fashioned television set. This was before the internet; there were no cat videos on YouTube. But this one showed up on TV every day at exactly 4 p.m. It didn’t seem to be a commercial—I don’t remember there being any commercials on this channel anyway—and it wasn’t part of a series of shows that would eventually add up to a coherent narrative. It would just start playing at 4 and then play again at 6 and maybe again at 8 before disappearing forever.

It was mesmerizing. The more I watched it, the funnier it became. The more I thought about it, the odder it seemed: what was this thing? Where did it come from? If I hadn’t stumbled across it by accident, would I ever have known it existed?

The next day, when 4 p.m. rolled around, I stayed glued to my seat for the full