[From the catalogue-in-progress for “Landscapes & Livestock”, a loan exhibition for Agincourt Homecoming in the Fall of 2015]

ATHERHOLT, Jerome (born 1955)

Mrs Schoenfeld’s Cat

date of execution unknown

oil on canvas /

New Age advocates are inclined to credit our animal companions with senses lost in human evolution, or at least supressed by the sophistication of contemporary life. Baltimore artist Jerome Atherholt hints at this, as the cat on the landing witnesses sprites and spirits active while the rest of the household sleep safely in their beds. Agnes Schoenfeld’s cat “Clara” is a typical American shorthair, but unlike many of her feline fellow, she often seems to intervene in human affairs. Darting suddenly from beneath a shrub, strolling divertingly along a fence top, Clara has garnered a reputation for averting what might otherwise have been disaster. She claims our attention just long enough for the accident to pass by, unconsummated.

After graduating from the Schuler School of Fine Arts in Baltimore, Jerome Atherholt became one of its faculty. More recently he has shifted into the world of computer games as both designer and actor, while still maintaining a career as an active gallery artist. He exhibits in Washington, DC, Baltimore and New York.