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Bohemian Bear Tamer

Founder Cast by E. Gruet French
1885–87, cast 1888
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 700
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 an itinerant animal trainer with two bear cubs, one diligently responding to the animated snap of the man’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 traveling 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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Bohemian Bear Tamer
  • Artist: Paul Wayland Bartlett (American, New Haven, Connecticut 1865–1925 Paris)
  • Founder: Cast by E. Gruet
  • Date: 1885–87, cast 1888
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Bronze
  • Dimensions: 69 3/8 x 33 x 45 1/2 in. (176.2 x 83.8 x 115.6 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of an Association of Gentlemen, 1891
  • Object Number: 91.14
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Bear Cub Grooming, Paul Wayland Bartlett American, Bronze, American
Bear Cub Grooming
Paul Wayland Bartlett
1887; cast ca. 1900 (by 1925)
Clinton Ogilvie, Paul Wayland Bartlett American, Marble, American
Clinton Ogilvie
Paul Wayland Bartlett
Piccirilli Brothers Marble Carving Studio
1919, carved 1920
Standing Torso of a Woman, Paul Wayland Bartlett American, Bronze, American
Standing Torso of a Woman
Paul Wayland Bartlett
ca. 1894–95; cast ca. 1909
Preparedness, Paul Wayland Bartlett American, Bronze, American
Preparedness
Paul Wayland Bartlett
Griffoul
1915–16, cast 1916
Seated Torso of a Woman, Paul Wayland Bartlett American, Bronze, American
Seated Torso of a Woman
Paul Wayland Bartlett
ca. 1895; cast ca. 1909

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