Hanging cat

This works brings a smile to the face of every cat lover. A masterpiece not only in the cleverness of the idea but in the artist’s mastery at transferring the viscosity of the clay to the tense human arm and relaxed body of the cat.

Asakura Fumio graduated from the Tokyo Fine Arts School in 1907. The following year, he received an award at the second Bunten exhibition and thereafter won awards there for six more consecutive years. This work, exhibited at the third Bunten exhibition, is terse and novel in its organization, being composed of a human right arm positioned more or less vertically and a cat being held hanging from that hand. Completely disregarding the differences in surface texture between human skin and a furry cat’s body, it contrasts magnificently the human arm with its tensed fingers and the limp, hanging body of the cat, which have been made almost to equal size. The rendering of the bit of tension in the cat’s hind legs is graphic evidence of Asakura’s sharp, observant eye and solid powers of depiction. Since it would be impossible to have a cat pose in such a way for an extended length of time, the artist must have hung it thus numerous times, ignoring any objections on the cat’s part, to observe its movement and exprerssion. Although it is a small work from early in his career, it is a characteristic piece by this artist who became a leading figure in the official exhibitions of the time by valuing realism and technical skill, even while modern sculpture in Japan was being so powerfully influenced by Rodin. (Writer : Masato Satsuma Source : Selected Masterpieces from The University Art Museum, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music: Grand Opening Exhibition, The University Art Museum, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, 1999)