This etching is the eighth illustration from ‘The boy who left home to learn fear’ tale. Hockney remarked, “This cat there’s about eight different layers on it. Sometimes it went black, and I had to scratch it out and start again. But I didn’t restart the drawing then, because I thought i’d got the balance of the placidness of the boy and the movement of the cat sufficiently, you know. Again he looks completely unmoved by anything”.

This is one of 39 etchings that Hockney created for the series 'Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm'. Hockney selected six stories for the series, from the 220 by the Brothers Grimm, which he'd delighted in since childhood: 'The Little Sea Hare', 'Fundevogel', 'Rapunzel', 'The Boy who left Home to learn Fear', 'Old Rinkrank' and 'Rumpelstilzchen'. Hockney stated, "They're fascinating, the little stories, told in a very very simple, direct, straightforward language and style, it was this simplicity that attracted me. They cover quite a strange range of experience, from the magical to the moral."