alb3679052

PAUL WAYLAND BARTLETT. Bohemian Bear Tamer

Bohemian Bear Tamer. Artist: Paul Wayland Bartlett (American, New Haven, Connecticut 1865-1925 Paris). Dimensions: 69 3/8 x 33 x 45 1/2 in. (176.2 x 83.8 x 115.6 cm). Date: 1885-87, cast 1888.
Trained at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Bartlett completed Bohemian Bear Tamer, his first large group, when he was just twenty-two years old. It depicts a well-muscled Gypsy with two bear cubs, one diligently responding to the animated snap of its trainer's fingers, the other lazily scratching behind its ear. The bears are not aware of their potential brute power; thus, the underlying theme is man's superiority as the thinking species. Bartlett was inspired not only by itinerant animal shows he had seen around Paris but also by intense contemporary interest in the evolutionary principles of Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and the 1868 discovery of Paleolithic skeletons at Cro-Magnon, in southwestern France.

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Author: PAUL WAYLAND BARTLETT (1865-1925)

Title: Bohemian Bear Tamer

Caption: Bohemian Bear Tamer. Artist: Paul Wayland Bartlett (American, New Haven, Connecticut 1865-1925 Paris). Dimensions: 69 3/8 x 33 x 45 1/2 in. (176.2 x 83.8 x 115.6 cm). Date: 1885-87, cast 1888. Trained at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Bartlett completed Bohemian Bear Tamer, his first large group, when he was just twenty-two years old. It depicts a well-muscled Gypsy with two bear cubs, one diligently responding to the animated snap of its trainer's fingers, the other lazily scratching behind its ear. The bears are not aware of their potential brute power; thus, the underlying theme is man's superiority as the thinking species. Bartlett was inspired not only by itinerant animal shows he had seen around Paris but also by intense contemporary interest in the evolutionary principles of Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and the 1868 discovery of Paleolithic skeletons at Cro-Magnon, in southwestern France.

Technique/material: BRONZE

Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Credit: Album

Image size: 2690 × 4400 px | 33.9 MB

Print size: 22.8 × 37.3 cm | 1059.1 × 1732.3 in (300 dpi)

Keywords: AMERICAN PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURE • ARTFORM: BRONZEWORK • BRONCE • BRONZE BRASS • BRONZE • BRONZES • COPPER ALLOY • METAL • METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK, USA • NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA • PAUL WAYLAND BARTLETT • SCULPTURE • UNITED STATES