Oil Painting of a Cat. Signed Natalie and dated '72 bottom left. Depicts a cat hanging from a limb in the style of the famous "Hang in There, Baby" photographic poster. 

Overall: 29 X 18 1/2 in. 

Sight: 26 3/4 X 16 1/2 in. 

#2706 . 

The popular catchphrase “Hang in there, Baby,” originates from a motivational poster published in 1971. It featured a black and white photograph of a Siamese kitten hanging onto a bamboo pole and was taken by Los Angeles celebrity photographer Victor Baldwin. Baldwin and his wife Jeanne, who had taken numerous photographs of kittens in various acrobatic poses, published them in a book called “The Outcast Kitten” in 1970, and that particular cat (named Sassy) sparked numerous requests for copies, as well as being used to sell subscriptions to Cat Fancy Magazine. Baldwin quickly turned the image into a poster, choosing the catchphrase to accompany it. The first copy was sold to the composer Meredith Wilson, who framed it and proudly displayed it in his office until his death. Within a year, order requests became so great that he had to hire a staff of four to keep up with the demand, and it became one of the best-selling posters of all time. Although Baldwin was able to live comfortably solely on the income from the image for the next ten years, he spent much of his time initiating lawsuits against numerous imitators, winning every case but routinely awarded just enough to cover his legal fees. By the time the poster’s initial popularity had waned, Baldwin estimated over 10 million unauthorized versions and direct copies of the poster had been made, with countless more reproductions and imitations since then, as well as various pop culture references in film, television, and music to both the original image and the message. Victor Baldwin made approximately $700,000 from sales of the posters, much of which went to settle his divorce, which he was apparently happy to spend it on.