Inside a building on the prestigious golden curve of the canal Heerngracht 497in AmsterdamNetherlands, the KattenKabinet (Cabinet of the cats), it’s a museum of art completely dedicated to these domestic felines.
Among its collections are works of art by Pablo Picasso and Rembrandt, among many others. It was founded in 1990 by Bob Meijer to honor the memory of his beloved cat. Morganwith whom he shared almost 20 years of life.
In addition to delighting in the paintings, sculptures, drawings and all kinds of artworksvisitors can find a pair of felines roaming freely around the museum and are often found resting next to the exhibits.
It is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 12:00 to 17:00 and, according to information available on the gallery’s website, it is a museum dedicated entirely to cats.
Among its collections are paintings, drawings, sculptures, works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Corneille, Sal Meijer, Théophile Steinlen and Joze Ciuha.
It is located inside an old house built in 1667 that was erected by the brothers Willem and Adriaen van Loon. Years later it was occupied by illustrious citizens among whom the former mayor of Amsterdam, Jan Calkoenand the Dutch politician Engelbert Francois van Berckel.
John Adams visited Van Berckel at the house during his tenure as US ambassador to the Netherlands, according to employees on the museum’s website.
In 1985 the building was restored and finally in 1990, Bob Meijer founded the museum in 1990 in honor of his ginger cat John Pierpont Morgan, named after the American banker JP Morgan.
Morgan was a very beloved cat and as a token of affection, every year during his birthday he received a special gift. As those in charge of the museum recalled, on his fifth anniversary “he was played” by Ansel Sandberg.
During his tenth birthday, the cat was given a bronze statue inspired by Morgan that was stolen before the museum opened.
A pamphlet titled “A Crooked Toulouse Cat and Other Nonsense” was created by Morgan’s friends and admirers to celebrate his fifteenth birthday and contained fifty limericks alluding to the iconic felid and his species.
“On that same birthday, Aart Clerkx, a Dutch cartoonist, portrayed Morgan in such a way that he could easily replace Washington on the US one-dollar bill,” museum workers wrote.
During the occasion, a series of one-dollar bills with Morgan’s portrait were created as a joke and are on display in the JP Morgan room of the museum.
The iconic text “In God we Trust” (in God we trust) that is printed on American dollars was replaced in this version with the feline’s face by the phrase “we trust no dog.”
The museum has a couple of feline inhabitants like Oscar, Billy, or Nala, who are often captured by the lens of those in charge of the museum. KattenKabinet while resting or hanging out near the exhibits.
One of the photographs shared through Instagram shows Billy sleeping peacefully next to a suit that, according to the publication, was donated in 1990 by Pia DouwesDutch actress who at that time played Grizabella, “the glamorous cat” in the musical cats.
“She sang her hit song ‘Memory’ and after the performance she gave the costume to the museum. Now, decades later, our Billy has another cat to hang out with,” museum employees wrote.
