The Bear Tamer

n.d.

Paul Wayland Bartlett

Associated Names
Paul Wayland Bartlett

Sculptor, American, 1865 - 1925

The sculpture depicts a male figure with long hair in a dynamic pose. His left arm is bent with the fist raised, while his right arm is positioned behind his back. The figure is wearing a loincloth. A bear stands on its hind legs in front of him. The sculpture is made of a dark material, possibly bronze. The man's musculature and the bear's fur are detailed. The sculpture is presented on a textured rectangular base.

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist's widow, Mrs.Paul Wayland Bartlett [1861-1954], Paris and Washington; gift 1944 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1943

  • Memorial Exhibition of the Sculptures by the late Paul Wayland Bartlett, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 21 November 1943 - 3 January 1944, no catalogue.

2009

  • American Bronzes from the Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 29 April 2009 - 2013, no catalogue.

2013

  • American Journeys: Visions of Place, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 21 September 2013 - 28 September 2014, unpublished checklist.

Bibliography

1889

  • Child, Theodore. "American Artists at the Paris Exhibition." Harper's New Monthly Magazine (September 1983).

1943

  • Mechlin, Leila. "Art Notes: Bartlett Exhibition at Corcoran Gallery." The Sunday Star (21 November 1943): C6.

1968

  • McSpadden, Joseph Walker. Famous Sculptors of America. New York, 1968: 151-152.

1973

  • Getlein, Frank. The Lure of the Great West. Waukesha, WI, 1973: 336, 339.

1975

  • Cooper, Jeremy. Nineteenth Century Romantic Bronzes. Boston, 1975: 118, pl. 117.

1979

  • Brown, Milton W., Sam Hunter, John Jacobus, Naomi Rosenblum, and David M. Sokol. American Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Decorative Arts, and Photography. New York, 1979: 322, pl. 343.

1992

  • Somma, Thomas P. "The Myth of Bohemia and the Savage Other: Paul Wayland Bartlett's Bear Tamer and Indian Ghost Dancer." American Art 6, no. 3 (Summer 1992).

1994

  • Craven, Wayne. American Art: History and Culture. New York, 1994: 384.

2023

  • Glinsman, Lisha Deming, Daphne Barbour and Shelley Sturman. "When the Workshop is Fluid: Observations on Parisian Bronze Casting in the Early Twentieth Century." Daphne Barbour, ed., Facture. Conservation, Science, Art History 6 (2023): 178 fig. 23, 179 fig. 24 (detail).

Inscriptions

on top of the base: Paul W Bartlett.; on the side of the base: FONDERIE / COOPERATIVE / DES ARTISTES.PARIS.

Wikidata ID

Q63864316

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