World's greatest cat painting, commissioned by S.F. woman in 1800s, sold for $826,000

'My Wife's Lovers' by Carl Kahler, an 1893 painting of the cats of San Francisco resident Kate Birdsall Johnson. 'My Wife's Lovers' by Carl Kahler, an 1893 painting of the cats of San Francisco resident Kate Birdsall Johnson. Photo: Sotheby's, Courtesy Photo: Sotheby's, Courtesy Image 1 of / 53 Caption Close World's greatest cat painting, commissioned by S.F. woman in 1800s, sold for $826,000 1 / 53 Back to Gallery

In 1891, San Francisco millionaire Kate Birdsall Johnson commissioned an artist to paint 42 of her favorite cats. The finished product was six feet by eight feet, 200 pounds and the greatest cat painting in the world.

In the years since its creation, the painting has been displayed at a World's Fair, survived the earthquake and fire of 1906 and sent on a tour around the country. On Tuesday, Sotheby's put the work up for auction where it was purchased by an anonymous cat lover for $826,000, more than half a million over the estimated value.

If it seems like a high price to pay for the apotheosis of crazy cat lady merchandise, it's not. The story behind the work is just as spectacular as the finished product.

Kate Birdsall Johnson was one of the California's foremost art patrons. Her husband, Robert C. Johnson, was a local businessman whose money came from his father, a former ship captain who made a fortune selling pork in Gold Rush San Francisco. Mrs. Johnson knew how to enjoy wealth — she splurged at every turn on her life's passion. Cats.

Mrs. Johnson had 350 cats at her summer home, Buena Vista, in Sonoma. The cats all had names (which they answered to) and a fleet of servants who served at their feline pleasure. Her favorite pet was a luxurious Parisian cat named Sultan. On a trip to France, Mrs. Johnson spotted him and asked how much he cost. His owner replied that he was not for sale. Mrs. Johnson offered $3,000 for the cat and home to America he went.

You can see Sultan today, featured in the center of the painting.

When Mrs. Johnson asked Austrian artist Carl Kahler to memorialize her cats for posterity, he admitted he'd never painted a cat before. He spent the next three years sketching her brood. Upon completion in 1893, Mrs. Johnson loaned the painting to the Chicago World's Fair. Afterward, it ended up in the San Francisco "Palace of Art Salon," which was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake. The cats, nine lives minus one, survived.

The only bad thing about the cat homage is its decidedly creepy name: 'My Wife's Lovers.' Allegedly, Mrs. Johnson's probably beleaguered husband named it.

The painting switched hands often in the 20th century before being acquired from a private collection in 2005. As for the cats themselves, their lives were luxurious till the end. In Mrs. Johnson's will, $500,000 was set aside to "guarantee their perpetual care and comfort."

Their legacy, thanks to Mrs. Johnson and Carl Kahler, was already secure.