Gato

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“Gato” (Cat) by Fernando Botero, 1984
Park Avenue at 79th Street
New York, September 2008

“At the northwest corner of Park Avenue and East 79th Street, the plaza follows the semicircular drop-off driveway model, but with a slight twist. In the half-circle area normally reserved for the ornamental fountain are artworks that render the space imageable to the public. The current sculpture, entitled Cat (1984), by Fernando Butero, is a bronze of a well-fed, polar-bear-sized cat with great whiskers. A previous sculpture. by Francisco Zunica, was a bronze of three grand women majestically strutting in different directions. Well-manicured shrubs and trees still surround the sculpture.” (Privately Owned Public Space: The New York City Experience, Jerold S. Kayden)