This small sketch of a sleeping cat by William Henry Hunt is a wonderfully observed study focused on the animal’s head and forepaws. The body is left largely unresolved, with just a few basic contours to suggest the remaining form. Renowned for his strict insistence on working directly from life, Hunt repeatedly brought to his subjects a bright and spirited naturalism. He studied under John Varley, whose dictum, ‘Go to Nature for everything,’ became a guiding principle. [1] This conviction profoundly shaped Hunt’s work, ‘I paint everything from nature,’ he once said, 'without nature I could not otherwise get character of colour and form, to obtain which is my constant aim.’ [2] In studies of fruit, flowers, children, and animals, Hunt found a world of complexity and charm.

From the start of his career, the artist’s physical disability often confined him to subjects close at hand. Among these, his drawings of animals form a substantial and understudied part of his oeuvre. They range from dogs, owls, turtles, rabbits, and pheasants to exquisitely sensitive drawings of domestic cats.