My Wife’s Lovers was commissioned in 1891 for Mrs. Kate Johnson, who was known as “possibly America’s greatest cat enthusiast.” The painting features 42 of Mrs.Johnson’s 350 cats. Truly a woman to admire. The painting was a key item in Sotheby’s 19th Century European Art Sale on November 3, 2015. The piece was estimated to be sold for between $200,000 and $300,000 U.S. Dollars; in the end it was bought for a gob-smacking $826,000.

Each one had a name and promptly answered to that name when called. – Tuscon Daily Citizen, April 25, 1949

I personally believe this to be one of the most amazing pieces of art I’ve ever seen. And to think she had 350 cats. I can’t even imagine how loud of a house that had to of been. Carl Kahler was a true hero. Nonetheless, my new goal in life is to own this painting, and hang it above a nice fire place. So all of my 350 cats can sit and stare at it with me.

Other pieces sold were:

Alfred Stevens
LE COUP DE VENT

John William Godward, R.B.A.
A POMPEIAN LADY

Paul Huet
MEDEA (AFTER EUGÈNE DELACROIX)

Julius LeBlanc Stewart

THE MOUNTEBANK

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source: sothebys.com