Gary Patterson, born in Southern California in 1940, is the illustrator and fine artist best known for his whimsical cat paintings and drawings. Collectors and fans have long called him the "Leonardo da Vinci of cats," a nickname that stuck because of how thoroughly he made the animal his own.
His path into art was not glamorous. He served in the U.S. Navy in his youth and kept sketching through his service years, then came home and worked as a commercial illustrator in the Los Angeles area during the 1960s. His real break came during the poster boom of that decade, when one of his early designs — a dreamy young woman surrounded by butterflies — became a runaway bestseller. That success pushed him toward independent art rather than pure commercial work.
Cats became his signature almost by accident. Patterson found that their personalities suited his style perfectly: they could look sly, innocent, grumpy, or delighted, all while being drawn with the exaggerated features that became his trademark. His cats typically have oversized eyes, expressive faces, and a sense of humor built into every scene. One cat might be tangled in yarn with a guilty look; another might be puffed up in mock indignation. The style is loose and playful rather than realistic, closer to visual comedy than portraiture.
Through the 1970s and beyond, his images spread everywhere. His cats appeared on posters, prints, greeting cards, collector plates, calendars, figurines, and household decor, licensed widely and sold across the United States and abroad. Even people who have never heard his name often recognize the artwork on sight. That combination — broad familiarity with the images, low name recognition — is one reason interest in Patterson himself keeps resurfacing.
Patterson spent his later years on California's Central Coast and continued painting until the end of his life. He died in November 2021 at age 81 after a car accident, prompting a wave of renewed attention to his catalog.
Collecting Gary Patterson art
Because his work was mass-produced, there is a healthy secondary market for it. If you are interested in buying, a few practical points matter:
- Prints versus originals. Signed and numbered limited-edition prints carry more value than open-edition posters or cards. Original paintings are rare and mostly held by private collectors, though they occasionally surface at auction.
- Authentication. Look for a clear signature, and compare it against documented examples. Estate sales and online marketplaces are full of unsigned prints, and attribution claims deserve skepticism.
- Condition and framing. As with most mid-century commercial art, fading, foxing, and poor framing significantly affect value.
- Where to look. Estate sales, antiques shops, and online auction sites are the most common sources. Prices vary widely depending on size, edition, and demand, so checking completed sales is more useful than asking prices.
His work has outlived the trends of the era in which it was made. For many buyers, the appeal is straightforward nostalgia — a cat illustration that hung in a grandmother's kitchen is now a memory worth owning.
Gary Patterson, the Football Coach Who Defined an Era at TCU
The other Gary Patterson dominating search results was born in 1960 and played defensive back at Kansas State before embarking on the long, unglamorous climb typical of assistant coaches. After nearly twenty years moving between programs — including a defensive coordinator role at New Mexico — he followed head coach Dennis Franchione to TCU in 1998 as defensive coordinator.
When Franchione left for Alabama after the 2000 season, TCU promoted Patterson to head coach. It turned out to be the defining hire of the program's modern era. Over twenty-one seasons, Patterson compiled a record of 181–79, making him the winningest coach in TCU history.
His teams were built on defense. Patterson's aggressive schemes — most notably his use of the 4-2-5 alignment, which emphasized speed over bulk — regularly produced some of the stingiest defenses in the country and influenced how many college programs approached defending the spread offenses that swept the sport in the 2000s.
The moments that defined his career
The LaDainian Tomlinson years. In 2000, the season before Patterson took over, running back LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 2,158 yards, still one of the great single seasons in college football history. Patterson, as defensive coordinator and incoming head coach, was part of the staff that elevated TCU onto the national stage during that run.
The perfect 2010 season. TCU went 13–0 in 2010, capped by a 21–19 victory over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day 2011. The Horned Frogs finished No. 2 in the final polls — the highest finish ever for a school outside the major conferences at the time — and made an unmistakable case that mid-major programs deserved a seat at the table. Patterson's success, along with Boise State's, was part of the pressure that reshaped the Bowl Championship Series and eventually helped push college football toward the playoff era.
The 2014 season and the playoff snub. In the first year of the College Football Playoff, TCU went 12–1, shared the Big 12 title, and crushed Ole Miss 42–3 in the Peach Bowl. The Frogs were ranked No. 3 in the next-to-last playoff standings — then dropped to sixth in the final ranking and were left out of the four-team field. The snub became one of the most debated decisions in the playoff's history and fed directly into later arguments for expansion. Patterson swept multiple national coach-of-the-year awards that season.
The Andy Dalton era. Quarterback Andy Dalton started four seasons under Patterson and became one of the program's most successful players, leading TCU to four bowl victories before a long NFL career.
The end of the run and his legacy
The final seasons were harder. TCU cycled through quarterback uncertainty and defensive decline, and in October 2021, Patterson and the university agreed to part ways mid-season. His departure marked the end of the longest and most successful head coaching tenure in school history, a stretch in which TCU moved from the Western Athletic Conference to Conference USA to the Mountain West and finally into the Big 12 — climbing from football afterthought to consistent national relevance. He later spent time in an advisory role on the staff at the University of Texas.
His legacy rests on two pillars. First, the on-field results: eleven or more wins in a season became routine rather than remarkable in Fort Worth. Second, the schematic influence: defensive coordinators across college football adopted versions of his speed-based 4-2-5 approach, meaning Patterson's fingerprints appear on programs far beyond his own.
Other People Named Gary Patterson
The name also belongs to writers, musicians, and local figures of less national prominence, which is why vague searches often produce mixed results. If you want a specific person, adding a context word makes an enormous difference. Useful searches include:
- "Gary Patterson cats" or "Gary Patterson prints" — for the artist
- "Gary Patterson TCU record" or "Gary Patterson coach of the year" — for the football coach
Which Gary Patterson Do You Mean?
Both men earned their reputations the same way — by doing one thing so consistently and distinctively that their work became instantly recognizable. The artist turned a single animal into a lifetime of beloved imagery that still circulates through homes and estate sales decades later. The coach turned a mid-sized Texas program into a national conversation piece and left his scheme embedded in modern college football.
If your interest is in the art, focus on the secondary market and authentication before buying. If it is the coach, his TCU record, the 2011 Rose Bowl, and the 2014 playoff debate are the touchstones that tell his story best. Either way, a three-word clarification in your search will get you exactly where you want to go.