Cat Lady

Painting Description: "Cat Lady" by Valeria Notarnicola

Medium: Acrylic and lacquer on canvas
Dimensions: 100 × 80 cm
Date: May 2025
Style: In the tradition of Gustav Klimt

In Cat Lady, Valeria Notarnicola presents a beguiling portrait that merges the ornamental richness of Gustav Klimt with an air of mystical domesticity. At the center is a composed, enigmatic woman cradling a sleek black cat—her gaze direct, her presence poised between elegance and quiet power.

The figure is enveloped in a cloak of patterned fabric, rendered with Klimtian mosaic-like blocks and floral details, while the surrounding background is alive with swirling golden spirals, stylized blooms, and sinuous greenery. These elements create a dreamlike garden-scape, one where natural beauty and human presence blend seamlessly into a world of sensual symbolism.

The black cat—historically a symbol of intuition, mystery, and the arcane—adds a layer of mythic and feminine archetype to the work. Held gently yet protectively, the cat becomes an extension of the woman herself: self-contained, observant, and powerful in stillness. Their shared gaze suggests a pact or kinship, perhaps even an invocation of the witch-muse trope that threads through history and art.

The use of lacquer over acrylic imbues the piece with a delicate sheen, enhancing the surface’s jewel-like quality and intensifying the decorative interplay of color, form, and symbolism.

Interpretation

Woman with Black Cat is a portrait of quiet sovereignty—a poetic exploration of the feminine aligned with nature, mystery, and inner knowing. Echoing Klimt’s reverence for beauty and ornament, Notarnicola adds a contemporary mythological dimension, portraying her subject not only as a muse, but as a keeper of her own narrative, cloaked in both floral grace and feline secrecy.