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Three Beavers Building a Dam

A work made of watercolor, pen and brown ink, and touches of black chalk, on cream laid paper, laid down on ivory laid paper, with a pieced overlapping border toned with brown watercolor.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of watercolor, pen and brown ink, and touches of black chalk, on cream laid paper, laid down on ivory laid paper, with a pieced overlapping border toned with brown watercolor.

Date:

c. 1800

Artist:

J. H. W. Tischbein
German, 1751–1829

About this artwork

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein experimented with animal physiognomy in many drawings. Inspired by the Swiss philosopher Johann Kaspar Lavater, the artist believed a person’s character depended on the animal he resembled. As Tischbein wrote in 1796, “I have undertaken another [series of drawings] in order to learn more about man. To make this study easier it is necessary to begin with beasts, since they are easier and their characters more evident.” Traditionally busy animals, these furry beavers exhibit human expressions as they focus diligently on the difficult task of stemming an exuberant waterfall.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Wilhelm Tischbein

Title

Three Beavers Building a Dam

Place

Germany (Artist's nationality:)

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.

Made 1795–1805

Medium

Watercolor, pen and brown ink, and touches of black chalk, on cream laid paper, laid down on ivory laid paper, with a pieced overlapping border toned with brown watercolor

Inscriptions

Inscribed recto, upper right, in graphite: "38" [changed to 58]; verso, lower left, in pen and black ink: "Th.V.58."

Dimensions

Primary support: 32.5 × 40.2 cm (12 13/16 × 15 7/8 in.); Sheet with border: 40.5 × 47.9 cm (16 × 18 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection

Reference Number

2013.1034

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/186414/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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