Friday, February 22, 2013

Cats A-Z: J (Jeoffry)

"Jeoffry" 
Woodcut
6" x 8" (paper) 3.75" x 4" (image) 
Oil-based inks on bright white printmaking paper 
Artist's Proof 
Available for purchase here. 

Jeoffry 

He sits serene on a puffy pedestal, and we are entranced. Dazzling stripes ripple out, mimicking both the cloud's softness and the stripes that radiate from his halo. What magic do cats possess when they sleep? How is it that through the mere act of dozing off, they transform into exalted beings?  

Jeoffry was the pet of Christopher Smart, a poet who immortalized the feline in his poem "Jubilate Agno." The poem is a religious work written while Smart was hospitalized for insanity. A large section of the work sings the praises of Jeoffry for his beauty, grace, and cleanliness, all of which Smart associated with the divine. 

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