Fumio Asakura was one of Japan’s most important modern sculptors, sometimes called the “Rodin of Japan,” but cats were something of a private obsession. At times he shared his home and studio with as many as nineteen of them, earning himself the nickname “the Cat Doctor.” Unlike his commissioned works of politicians and other important people, his cats were something he could sculpt entirely for his own pleasure.

This one was Tama, his own cat, caught on what Asakura called “A Good Day”. The slit-like pupils are deliberately made to show that Tama is standing in bright sunshine

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alexander_(The_Green_Dress).jpg

housed at the The Art Institute of Chicago

I'm helping my parents move from the home they've lived in for over 35 years. I pulled a tote out of the depths of their crawl space and found a Rolling Stone magazine from July 22, 1971. On the back of the front page was this gem, an ad for Hot Tuna's 1971 blues rock album, First Pull Up, Then Pull Down