Everybody knows that to watch cats playing, eating, doing derpy things, or just sleeping calmly, is the best show ever. French great master of poster art Théophile Alexandre Steinlen knew this, just because he was a great cat lover himself. So it was no surprise when he invited Us to pose for his iconic poster, dedicated to the forthcoming tour of the renowned Paris cabaret “Le Chat Noir” (“The Black Cat”)
Théophile Steinlen, La tournée du Chat Noir et du Chat Rouge de Rodolphe Salis et Fat Cat Art (1896)
We posed together with one of the stray cats of Montmartre whom kind artist fed every day. Nevertheless, Cole (it was the cat’s name) was so skinny that We graciously granted him all Our fee for sitting, three nice huge king prawns.
You will ask: “Zarathustra, but why one cannot see Your Majesty at the commonly known version of the poster?”
It was a sad misunderstanding: the star of the cabaret Aristide was a socialist, and his songs featured the life of lower classes. In his understanding, the stray black cat was a symbol of a working-class hero.
When he saw Us and Our signature at the artwork, he exclaimed: “Oh, no, we cannot feature a fat cat, I don’t care about oligarchs!”
We respectfully told him, that in Our language Fat Cat means well-fed, purrfectly cared, happy cat, and the socialist theory aims that all stray cat should turn into fat cats if to say it in Our terms.
But at this time nobody cared about cultural hermeneutics, and body positivity was not trending.
Now, more than a century after, the time is coming to reveal the true version!
Thus speaks Zarathustra the Cat