Gwen John felt a deep sense of connection and involvement with cats. So much is suggested by the works on paper in which she portrayed specific cats, including her female tabby Edgar Quinet (c. 1905–08), and five paintings of female sitters depicted with a large black cat in the lap. Following her training at the Slade School of Art, Gwen John typically worked from life. Study of a Cat portrays a certain tom cat with a white chest and ginger back, which appeared in several other watercolour studies. The underlying pencil drawing has been rapidly outlined and reoutlined, before the final wash of watercolour established the exact contours of the animal. But a sense of the cat’s movement is nevertheless apparent.