Know Your Hashtag: #MuseumCats

The #MuseumCat trend is pumping out pictures that are like catnip for art enthusiasts.

by Beckett Mufson

July 30, 2014, 8:20pm

@BerkshireMuseum

Cat pictures may be the ultimate lowbrow dopamine trigger of the Internet, and are pretty much a universal guilty pleasure. One glimpse of furry ears and derpy contortions leaves even the most jaded web user with a slight smile. But, of course, cat videos have also become nearly synonymous with the addictively fluffy clickbait that clogs the Internet superhighway on a bit-to-bit basis. Recently Twitter account @CultureThemeshas teamed up with the (obviously) cat-focused@CuratorialCatsto initate the hashtag #MuseumCats, which introduces cat pics into the decidely higher-brow world of art museums.

Twitter is now churning out thousands of pictures of cats in museums, notable cat paintings, sculptures of cats, and even cats digitally added into famous artworks. The community of museum social media presences, from the Smithsonian to the Science Museum have contributed to the cat fever. This fusion of paws and paintings allows the low and high brows to meet, creating universally appealing content that's fun from the frontal cortex to the tip of the tail.

Sink your claws into the masterpieces we've culled so far from the 10,000 strong—and counting—clowder of cat pics populating the hashtag.