Wain, Louis William (1860-1939)

Wain, Louis William

PAINTER (ENGLAND)

BORN 5 Aug 1860, London: Clerkenwell - DIED 4 Jul 1939, St. Albans, Hertfordshire
CAUSE OF DEATH kidney failure
GRAVE LOCATION London: St Mary's Cemetery, Harrow Road, Kensal Green (Grave no. 3654 (marked Matthew William Wain))

Louis William Wain was the son of a French mother and an English father. He was a sickly child and he decided to be a musician. He played the piano and the violin, but he made himself a name by painting cats, among them his own cat Peter.

In 1884 he married Emma, the governess of his younger sister. Emma was ten years his senior and his family was opposed to the marriage. After three years of marriage Emma died of breast cancer.

Wain was the president of the National Cat Club in 1898 and in 1911. In later years he suffered from schizofrenia and his paintings changed. He was put in the pauper ward of Springfield Mental Hospital in Tooting. After H.G. Wells and others discovered he was there, Prime Minister Ramsey MacDonald intervened and he was transferred to Bethlem Royal Hospital in Southwark. In 1930 he was transferred to Napsbury Hospital near St Albans in Hertfordshire. He continued to love cats during his illness and continued drawing them until his death in 1939.

Images
The grave of Louis William Wain at St. Mary's Cemetery, Kensal Green, London. Picture by Androom (08 Feb 2012)	The grave of Louis William Wain at St. Mary's Cemetery, Kensal Green, London. Picture by Androom (08 Feb 2012)