Gifts for Cat Lovers: Cat Wall Art They'll Actually Hang

Cat lovers are particular, and so are their cats. The best cat wall art has a little of that attitude: a cat that looks like it owns the room, painted well enough that it reads as a real painting from across it. Here are the pieces we would give, sorted by the kind of cat person you are shopping for.

For the one who likes a cocktail

Our bar-scene cats are the gifts people ask about. Each one sits at a dark, lamplit bar as if it has a regular stool there. The black cat holding court with a martini is a house favorite, and the white cat presiding over a 1960s Italian bar is its opposite in every way but confidence.

For aperitivo people, there is a black cat reclining on wine-red velvet beside a negroni and a gray tabby stretched beside a glowing spritz. Champagne lovers get a silver tabby at a marble counter with a tall flute or a ginger tabby with champagne poured. Wine drinkers: a sleek black cat leaning on the bar, an orange tabby beside red wine, a tuxedo cat waiting at the counter or a blue-eyed Siamese in a candlelit wine bar.

For the portrait lover

If they would rather have their cat painted like an old master's subject, choose a breed portrait. The white Persian with old-world poise, the plush Ragdoll in warm light and the Bengal with a rosetted golden coat and green eyes all hang well in a living room or bedroom. For a little humor, the tuxedo cat claiming one side of a leather Chesterfield is every cat owner's sofa, exactly.

Match the coat

Cat owners notice coat color first. Black, white, ginger, gray tabby, tuxedo and Siamese are all here, so match the painting to the cat at home and it stops being decor and becomes a portrait of their own. If they have more than one cat, two smaller canvases side by side make a better gift than one big one.

A seasonal extra

For the cat person who decorates for fall, the black cat beside a glowing jack-o'-lantern is cozy rather than spooky, and it can stay up from October right through Thanksgiving.

Gifting tips: size, frame and timing

When you don't know their walls, go medium. A 12" x 16" or 16" x 20" canvas fits almost anywhere: above a bar cart, on a bookshelf wall, beside a doorway or in a hallway. Save the 24" x 30" and 24" x 32" sizes for someone you know has a sofa wall or a bed wall waiting for a statement piece.

Pick the frame that disappears. Most pieces come framed in a choice of Black, Espresso, White or Natural wood, and a few are gallery-wrapped canvas that needs no frame. Black and Espresso suit darker, moodier rooms and the bar-scene paintings. Natural and White suit lighter, airier homes. If in doubt, Black is the safest choice.

Order early. Each canvas is printed and framed to order rather than pulled from a shelf, so it needs a few days to be made before it ships. For holiday gifts, order well ahead of the December rush.

Browse the full cat wall art collection, or if they love cocktails as much as cats, see our bar cart wall art guide. Shopping for a household with a dog too? Here are our gifts for dog lovers.