The Owl and the Cat

Canvas, oil.

The city art museum of Bristol, the UK.

The heroes of the work – an owl and a cat traveling by a toy boat – resemble soft plush toys that children like to sleep with. These characters in the painting by Peter Blake symbolize a childhood that quickly ends and leaves vivid or disturbing memories. The artist’s childhood was overshadowed by the sad events of the war, so there are a certain emptiness and sadness in the work. The painting with a green boat, a jar of honey and rolled up five-pound banknotes illustrate the beginning of the famous children’s poem by British poet Edward Lear.