Louis Wain

[sk8rdad73]

What music is this?

[soarornor]

First rate video.  Beautifully done.

[MissBarghest]

This man is my idol. We even share the same birthday.

[aramanth]

Great presentation!

And although there are detractors that say Wain was experimenting in textile patterns, the cat at 01:27 does not resemble a pattern. The wide eyes, the spiked fur, even redness under the eyes does seem to cry out from the painting that something was very wrong.

[EmpressEurasia]

louis wain & alphonse mucha have both the same year of birth & death 1860-1939

[urmenior]

I've had 12 cats so far since I was 3 (I'm 22 now). I sometimes think I exceptionally evolved from felines thought I don't see what the advantage of that might be. I find Wain's last works exceptionally good. Am I schizo too?

[MrRhadoo]

1:46 - 1:54 => prolly the first version drawings of a Fractal Cat!

People having his condition perceive time in a different manner. Maybe we can learn something from this! :blink :blink

[TheGrayChannel]

Excellent video!

[AceMaijin]

nice imagination <3 CATS

[Anophis]

Great stuff. I love all the art. Thanks for the upload.

[paragreg]

Very Tasteful presentation on a touchy subject.

[Arm2]

I didn't know they had DMT available in the early 20th century.

[LegalHeroin]

@Arm2

lol well dmt is in your brain so....

[Arm2]

@LegalHeroin DMT does NOT exist in the brain. Unless you smoke it. Lets bust that myth once and for all.

[qpNinjaCookieqp]

@Arm2 Your brain produces DMT ar-tard

[Kashyd]

It is as if at some point of his life he had discovered opium

[Claymore224]

@Kashyd more like lsd

[frezzingaces]

Those cats scare me.

[mheisser2005]

Someone already asked, but I'll ask again: Who wrote/performed the music? Where's it from? It'd be cool if you included the music information in the "show more" section below the video.

[badkluster]

@mheisser2005 James Newton Howard, usual composer for Shyamalan, among others

[victorbuza]

The music is London from Blood Diamond by James Newton Howard

[mhatter5]

Reminds me of DMT....

[Mulekeep]

While it may seem trivial, one should take note of the similarities between his later paintings and various other religious symbols, particularly in regards to patterns and their symmetry.

[Rrtor]

@Mulekeep

Examples?

[h0w13r]

Could possibly make a great movie lol

[pushrex]

Where can I find the composer of this music?



[134343]

@pushrex

It is from the album from the movie: Blood diamond. The track is called: London

[markjm90]

@pushrex Archer & Solomon Hike, it's from the Blood Diamond OST

[Licetrainer]

is anyone else creeped the fuck out by this?

[Ysef]

reddit

[artenman]

@Ysef Don't visit Reddit or you will get instant herpes.

[mouse264]

What kind of scares me is hat I used to draw a lot of anthropomorphic animals, cats especially, and now my art looks more like it does halfway through this video. D:

[sharonisrelative]

Was it just me, or was that frickin creepy...

[artenman]

@sharonisrelative Just you.

[The360dot]

I like his art when he had Skitzo it looks cooler.

[artenman]

@The360dot I like your mom when she's skitzo.

[no1specialful]

The song is called "London" by James Newton Howard. Thanks for helping me find it @LeopoldSampsonite cuz it is on the Blood Diamond soundtrack

[trajeff]

Lovely...I`ve always enjoyed his work, my faves being the furry stylized cats of his later years...

[Tatti31]

Thank you for the video! What's the music playing in it?

[artenman]

@Tatti31 Never Say Never by Justin BIeber.

[Tatti31]

@artenman Thank you! But is this really so? I searched for the track with this name, and it returns something very different, with singing etc...

[shoopdawoop3]

all his pictures still resemble cats there just extremely complex and distorted cats

[KreemieNewgatt]

Great job on your vid. Hope you got an "A" in your psych class.

[InkVirus]

I'm pretty sure that the deity looking cat with the yellow and pink lines was drawn during his schizophrenia, but the last two paintings were made because he was studying isometric designs and detailing on patterns. His mother said that he'd paint them because they had the same type of designs on their rug's topography. i'm not so sure about the deity looking one though. but no doubt he was a genius. those geometric shapes are amazing <3

[tauwilltriumph]

@IronicallyVague He. What do you do now?

[tauwilltriumph]

@IronicallyVague You could have done it. The moving and talking would be an annoyance, but you would still get the job done, unless there's another issue you didn't mention.

[ember170]

i think you have to be a bit crazy to be so talented) i proved that to myself after watching A Beautiful Mind, too

[PeekSiegen]

Des fractales au 19ème siècle ! Et des chats, aussi mesquins que les hommes...

[dustinmc]

I thought a lot of the paintings weren't able to be dated. The researchers who originally came up with the conclusion that his schizophrenia was getting worse based on how abstract the cats began to look were choosing an interpretation of the order based on what would fit best with their research. i.e. intellectual fraud.

[lifemurmansk]

Через рисунки, как через призму видно изменения восприятия мира во время протекания шизофрении у Льюиса Уэйна.

[NiNE1911]

Play him off keyboard cat...

[illegalusername]

What's new pussycat? WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAA­AAA

[videotimesss1]

What is the name of the beautiful music?

[NiNE1911]

@videotimesss1 its a famous classical musician Rick Astley with his song Never Gonna Give You Up

[Mjaszczur]

Thank you for this video. Finally a comprehensive and chronological clip about Wain's work :)

[kakibea8]

This is not schizophrenia....this is schizoaffective disorder....it has a strong affective component evidenced by the strong colors and the mood swings...

[jayseo]

inspirational music

[blackbird1016]

maybe you should know....his mother worked in textiles, and yes it is possible that this was directly linked to his illness, but artists also like to incorporate the unlikely in their work, and those patterns look very visually linked to textiles. I dislike the unsure connection being made between his art and his illness. You can produce work like this without schizophrenia...

[Mjaszczur]

@blackbird1016

Yes, however being influenced by parents comes at an early age - since his 'fractal' period appeared when he was already a grown man, we might presume that it was rather an effect of his own artistic progress, rather than an "inspiration".

Besides, once somebody develops his own style, it doesn't change that dramatically.

But yes, being exposed to various textures at an early age could have surfaced from the unconscios and reoccured at a later period. Freud stuff ;)

[dekidex]

Love the cats in 1:08 and 1:28. Thanks for sharing this :)

[Cheestah]

This was a incredibley well made video. Every time I watch this, I feel that sinking feeling in my stomach, that mix of turmoil and grief. You capture the pain and anguish that he perhaps once felt, and the music certainly accentuates it. Great music choice. Great captioning. Great pictures and timing. Beautiful. Thank you so much for creating this. :)

[ashaley24]

It's kind of nice he could spend his last days with something he truly loved.

[MunsonTheToker]

under researched...

[omatu1]

supernatural

[Mythbreakers101]

"Some speculate that the onset of Wain's schizophrenia was precipitated by toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection that can be contracted from cats." - Wikipedia. < That's ironic!

[Mythbreakers101]

When he was riding through London one day a cat ran across the street and as the carriage swerved Louis fell out and hit his head. Most people believe this is what jump-started his schizophrenia.

[fozzyprozac]

What is the music for this video...I like it.

[RiaTapioca]

I can see how his later work can been seen as mishapen or incongruous from his schizophrenia... but theyre all still emaculate pieces in my eyes..

[JERKFACEist]

Im goona be the first guy w/ wains cat tattoos

[EnterTheMold]

@JERKFACEist props!

[bondapovon]

I just recently discovered the disturbed awesomness that was Louis Wain. Too bad I hadnt when I used to live in London as I wasnt far from where he lived and maybe could have found his house.

[HAJS5]

There is no evidence to show these images of him having stranger drawings were in this order because the one to collect them did not know what was made in order, and he had said himself he liked trying different styles like wallpaper styles such as the last one you showed.

[muskndusk]

Thanks for a beautiful video about a brilliant and tender man. Sometimes madness and genius are so close. If a "sane" person had painted in exactly the same manner, the style wouldn't be regarded as symptomatic of psychosis, but as creativity. Give a dog (or cat!) a bad name ......

[TheErratasinfe]

whats the name of the song? it's beautiful

[LeopoldSampsonite]

its from the blood diamond soundtrack

[nemo3590]

trippy

[buewgewstmeiers]

schizophrenia isnt a fantasy its a true reality to the person who has it, just as true as yours, except not lived through your eyes

[icetea010]

we watched this vid in my psych class!! Its so bizarre how much his paintings rly changed... poor guy

[kenta0jenta]

cats!

[bloodyhell80]

Whats the name of the song?

[Asiancomedian]

You have to take into consideration that his works aren't dated and some of those abstract ones were most likely made even before he progressed into insanity, he was known to experiment with different styles and such.

[Zerion]

are there any similar cases?

[TheSchematic]

From domesticated cute animals into fire gods and sentient beings.

[zuersthan]

what is this song????

[Gunzrgood500]

It's called London by James Newton Howard. It was in the Blood Diamond soundtrack I believe.

[zuersthan]

thanks! (:

[Xsublime28xX]

I love the way his cats became more and more abstract as time went on. They started looking like fractals ,very cool.

[Gunzrgood500]

Nice video by the way. The drawings are really cool and trip me out. The music also fits perfectly, it's so epic.

[JrLocb]

What is name of song in this great video???

If you know, please write! =) thx =)

[Gunzrgood500]

Song's called London by James Newton Howard, it's pretty damn epic.

[noirouze]

wow. this video is ridiculous, and in a bad way.

[j7609]

well, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but i disagree w/ you noir. i don't think this video is bad at all. as a huge Wain for for 14 years, i quite like this video. the only other thing i disagree with is in this video, is that it says that Louis had violent mood swings. this is true to a degree, but based on my extensive studies of Mr. Wain, he was actually a very docile & gentle man

[j7609]

cont....tho they did happen, his outbursts were not that commen. he remained very kind & gentle even during the peak of his illness. he even made paintings for the patients in the hospital (some of which are still on display there) & he had his last gallery show there too! pretty cool.

good job on this video Matt, the music set to it is nice as well.

RIP forever Louis Wain - i wish i could have met you. your art & life story inspire me so much :)

[RickMoonbeam]

Yet another promotion for the mental health religion, this time reading some ludicrous meaning into the way a man draws cats. The pictures probably did represent some personal dilemma to Wain but "schizophrenia" is just a cobbled up excuse to get rid of him as "insane". Lets just enjoy his cats without trying to promote psychoquackery.

[autosuggestionband]

Look, there really is no denying that Louis Wain went mad. Although it is doubtful that what ailed him was schizophrenia (his skill never declined, and he still painted many "conventional" works up to his death), he did exhibit some truly disturbed behaviour in the latter years of his life. But I really don't think his cat obsession was a symptom. Intensified by his illness? Possibly. Caused by it? No.

That said, I adore late-period Louis Wain. The use of colour is fantastic.

-Julian

[RickMoonbeam]

You're certainly privy to information I can't find autosuggestionband. All I can find concerning the life of Louis Wain is that his family got rid of him the moment his income dried up. What is "mad" in your estimation anyway let alone "schizophrenia"? As a teenager in the sixties I spent a lot of time in Wain's old bin Springfield being treated for "schizophrenia" and I can assure you it doesn't exist any more than any other "mental illness".

[Blankfrack]

Of course, being mentally ill yourself precludes you from acknowledging its existence. Let me guess; Scientology nutter?

[RickMoonbeam]

More of your wonderful logic again Blankfrack. Adolf Hitler banned smoking in public in Nazi Germany. Does that make non-smokers Nazis? Actually I don't find Scientology a worse religion than psychiatry. It's certainly no worse than most other religions. Look at the Vatican in contraception or the C of E on gay clergy. "Mental health" is as bad as anything Ron L Hubbard ever came up with.

[Salvagiera]

While I agree a lot of Psychotherapy is bullshit that involves pretty much giving meth to patients, schizophrenia is very real. When hallucinations progress beyond acuteness, there is a true dysfunction in the brain. I understand you've had personal experience with treatment. But just because they incorrectly diagnosed you doesn't disprove the existence of the illness.

[RickMoonbeam]

Medicine is an applied science; not a theoretical one. If you want to claim to have a neurological disorder then you have to diagnose it as such or you have nothing. If you want to claim alien abduction Salvagiera then first catch yourself an alien. In the meantime please leave poor Louis alone and please don't inflict horrible fantasies like schizophrenia on him.

[flimflam0069]

It isn't a fantasy. For the person it is a fantasy world in the negative sense, but it is scientifically proven to be a brain disease. It is why the people who have positive symptoms like hallucinations actually DO see them. That is shown on MRI's in the way that the persons visual cortex flares continuously when having the hallucinations. I don't believe you have ever had it, other wise you wouldn't give it such little attention. It is a horrible horrible disease, NOT to be taken lightly.

[RickMoonbeam]

You're missing the point flimflam0069. A piece of junk science hyperbole about MRI scans or anything else doesn't talk a disease into existence or these scans would presently be used to diagnose it. To assert a disease exists from a sociological factor like a state appointed agent asserting something about how a person's mind works is what Hitler did with Jews,,, and you're doing this with Louis.

[flimflam0069]

Well, I do agree with that except about it being junk science. You don't diagnose it with the MRI because the goal is to diagnose it by the symptoms, and because Hallucinations which appear on MRI's can be a symptom of many things is a good reason not to include it, but there IS a correlation which is why it isn't actually junk science. Unfortunately it doesn't show causation. Which is also why the DSM can be very inaccurate.

[Salvagiera]

If you'll notice, I never actually claimed that Wain was schizophrenic, I merely defended the disorder's existence. Also, understand that neurology and psychology are not identical. If it's a matter of semantics though, I suppose you could consider psychology applied neurology, in a way. Science is an observational philosophy. To say psychology doesn't exist would be to say that thoughts don't exist.

[flimflam0069]

psychotherapy doesn't involve drugs of anykind. It is an aspect of client therapy used by both psychologists and psychiatrists. It is simply the use of language to bring out the actual problem. To say psychotherapy is BS is to say that giving advice to someone is BS. They are in the same category, especially in client-centered therapy. Schizophrenia IS a brain DISEASE. Proven medically and scientifically. Not a theory, proven. Not saying you are saying the contrary, just FYI

[Salvagiera]

Yeah, but that's a technicality at best.Pharmaceuticals are used in many patients alongside therapy. It is deemed necessary to give kids with ADHD speed. I won't even be kind enough to say that psychotherapy isn't bullshit though. I'm not even gonna pretend that this is some kind of scientific opinion. I just think the mentality of victimization is disgusting. Instead of pushing people to fix their lives, they convince them that all their problems have some root source in a traumatic past event.

[flimflam0069]

Also, he probably didn't have shizophrenia anyway. He probably had a form of asbergers syndrom, because if he had shizophrenia his ability as an artist would have diminished, as well as the sense of visual agnosia displayed in his attention to detail in the extreme sense.

[RickMoonbeam]

Christ almighty flimflam0069! Now poor Louis has another posthumous diagnosis forced on him and all he ever wanted to do was to be left alone to draw his cats.

[flimflam0069]

Seriously, go ask Louis, about how he feels about another diagnosis, I REALLY don't think he cares right now.

Is there any reason that you are condemning conjecture of a peculiar case after the patient is gone, for the sake that they would mind?

[RickMoonbeam]

Christ almighty flimflam0069! Now you're forcing another posthumous diagnosis on poor Louis and all he ever wanted to do was to be left alone to draw his cats.

[Hellkattus]

This video makes me wish I could reach through time hug St. Louis Wain! He's one of those very rare and brilliant humans who in spite of suffering horrible pain and soul crushing terror gifted our species with beauty and joy. Like St. Vincent van Gogh.

[NiNE1911]

@Hellkattus LOL Dude you're gay... go hug a black dick

[Hellkattus]

Actually, in the extremely fractal rendering (which resembles a Rorscharch Blot), if you look carefully, you can see the Cat's hands and feet which then leads the eye to perceive that Saint Louis was drawing this Cat whilst it was on its back in Belly Rubbin' Position.

[akafur]

"eventually his paintings did not even resemble cats as he slipped more into his schizophrenia"

That's wrong, they did.

[Hellkattus]

Absolutely the BEST video on Saint Louis Wain! You have a bright future in both Psychology and Film. I hope you combine both fields and continue to produce more such beautiful and deeply moving works of Art!

[Hellkattus]

Damn You! This Presentation made me weep inconsolably! Where did you find such sad and poignant music?

[subconsciousdomain]

Does anyone know what the song is called?

[shalindriaharam]

I really like this video, love the painter (cat w/cigar is awesome), thanks for posting. 5 starz

[ian40]

serious question. how can i (or an expert) tell an original painting by this artist?

[MattManiaMaxX]

I'm not really qualified to answer that question, because I honestly wouldn't know. I'd suggest asking an expert.

[macmiersen]

@MattManiaMaxX Giovanni Norelli tenia un metodo para identifikar las pinturas kon sus artistas giovanni morelli invented a method to rekognize paintings to their authors,

[smoekdacheeb]

@ian40 honestly? YOU can start by taking an art history course; an expert i am not, but a proficient amateur I can call myself. Generally, one recognizes a painting in the same way that one recognizes any other art form - by having seen it in it's original, most beautiful form.

[TehAsploder]

"He belonged to several cat societies and was chairman of the National Cat Club. Although all these things did not reveal his illness as much as his paintings did."

Are you implying that members of cat societies are all mentally ill?

[MattManiaMaxX]

No. His schizophrenia revolved around his obsession with cats. How you came to that conclusion about that statement is beyond me.

[TehAsploder]

I wasn't suggesting the error was intentional. But you associated the two sentences with, "Although these things did not reveal his illness as much as..."

Go learn you some English, boy.

[MattManiaMaxX]

It's was phrased fine..

He had an obsession with cats. Belonging to multiple cat societies and being the chairman of a cat club were examples. Learn some logic..boy.

[TheAbortioner]

@MattManiaMaxX

"It's was phrased fine.."

Good Odin.

[smoekdacheeb]

@MattManiaMaxX poor wording in the video, obviously. don't apologize for the deficient; support those that try to correct them. those who are concise, accurate and effective in their wording need not fear such as us.

[Jocks0113]

@TehAsploder no, he implied that cat-fags such as yourself are mentally ill. Don't take me wrong, I like cats a lot too, but I'm far from being schizophrenic.

(are you a douche?)

[Canas29]

The one at 1:27 scares me the most. It's almost normal, but looking carefully you can start to see his descent.

[AyaLous]

love this art

[benrr101]

Nice! We had read and saw some of his paintings in our Psychology book. The music also nicely complements the progression.

[erikaStereo]

I love Louis Wain!!

[NIN1337]

kooooooool

[gardePhil]

Great stuff ; collected his cards but didnt know anything about him

[achildofbodom1]

yea dude i think we both kinda made it straight forward, i think we both did pretty damn good :P

[achildofbodom1]

mine better bitch lol