Wolf and Goat Fire Screen

1917–20

Wilhelm Hunt Diederich (American, born Hungary, 1884–1953)
Made by the Art Metal and Iron Company
New York

William Hunt Diedrich consistently sought to capture dynamic imagery in his works, most often through compositions featuring animals engaged in combat or play. This fire screen represents one of the artist’s most powerful realizations of this goal. Against a finely wrought background of wire mesh, a cut-steel wolf and goat are entwined in a circular dance of death. The jagged edges of the animals’ tails and fur not only add to the malevolence of their combat but also function as the tabs that attach the silhouettes to the screen. The wavelike rhythm of the screen adds to the dramatic impression of continuous movement.

Status: On View, Gallery 272
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Wilhelm Hunt Diederich
Title: Wolf and Goat Fire Screen
Place: New York (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: c. 1917–1920
Medium: Cut steel, wrought iron, and steel mesh
Dimensions: 85.1 × 113.7 × 27 cm (33 1/2 × 44 3/4 × 10 5/8 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Karsten in honor of her children: Lesley, Thomas Jr., Liza, and Timothy Karsten
Reference Number: 1998.566

Jennifer M. Downs, “’The New Modern Feeling’: A Catalogue of the Collection,” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 27, 2 (2001), 23–25, no. 2.
Judith A. Barter, et al., American Modernism at the Art Institute of Chicago, From World War I to 1955 (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2009), cat. 77. 18.

Conner-Rosenkranz, New York, by 1998; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1998.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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