--- title: World's Largest Cat Painting Sells for $826,000 description: A canvas that is believed to be the world's largest cat painting was auctioned off at Sotheby's in New York on Monday for $826,000. canonical: https://time.com/4100028/worlds-largest-cat-painting-sells/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-04T19:14:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:58.328Z og:title: World's Largest Cat Painting Sells for $826,000 og:description: The painting is called My Wife's Lovers og:url: https://time.com/4100028/worlds-largest-cat-painting-sells/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: World's Largest Cat Painting Sells for $826,000 twitter:description: The painting is called My Wife's Lovers twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # World's Largest Cat Painting Sells for $826,000 > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=cd2d273b-f4a8-46eb-a697-4359178e16a3&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Inside New York's First Cat Cafe [Watch (HLS stream): Inside New York's First Cat Cafe](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0MiiFeak.m3u8) (1:49)  _Published 2014-12-12. Meet the cats of NYC's first cat cafe, Meow Parlour, and hear more about the growing trend of paying to play with cats from the cafe's two owners._  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Nov 4, 2015 7:14 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Nov 4, 2015 7:14 PM UTC A canvas that is believed to be the world’s largest cat painting was auctioned off at Sotheby’s in New York on Monday for $826,000\. The enormous composition is titled _My Wife’s Lovers_ and was painted by Austrian artist Carl Kahler around 1893\. It weighs 227 pounds, measures 75-inches-by-102-inches and is so large it had to be hung on a specially constructed wall, according to the [CBC](http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-monday-edition-1.3300077/updated-world-s-largest-cat-painting-sells-at-auction-1.3300082). The cats featured in the work of art belong to the painting’s commissioner, Kate Birdsall Johnson. However, only 42 of her 350 felines made the cut for the piece. The cat named [Sultan](http://theweek.com/speedreads/586896/worlds-largest-cat-painting-sells-mystery-buyer-826000), a $3000 purchase for Johnson, sits in the painting’s center spot. Cat enthusiasts were entranced by the painting while it was on display at the auction house. “When _My Wife’s Lovers_ first went on exhibit on Friday, two women showed up with folding chairs and just sat and stared at the painting, taking in each different cat and their painted personality” the CBC reported. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] I'm Christina Ha. And I'm one of the founders of Meow Parlour. And I'm Emilie Legrand and I'm one of the founders of Meow Parlour. I had visited cat cafes in France and in Japan before. And so, because we both love cats. And we were sad we couldn't get to a cat cafe in New York, so if you're sad you just build it. [ LAUGH ] We partnered with a rescue group called kitty kind they're based out of the union square pet co. They're a non profit all volunteer no kill shelter [ MUSIC ] Kitty Kind handles all of our adoptions for us. So they're the ones who know the cats best and understand their personalities. Through the exposure we really hope they get adopted. And if it urns out for some reason they don't like you know, other cats. They don't like people. Then, we're already home, then, into the proper situation. For the moment, we have seven cats, and we're planning on having a dozen cats. Gillian, Sqwinkles, Spot, Liza, Luck Eleven, Kirsten and Marley. Marley. We're cat ladies. [ LAUGH ] Yeah. I mean we love cats and. I've had cats all my life so I'm really trying to make sure they are really comfortable here. Our residential super cat lady. [ LAUGH ] So we have these cats that have like really different quirks to them. And they're all very, very unique and super individual and I think it's so interesting to get to. Interact with them and get to know them better. 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