The Soul of Contentment (Black Bear)

Arts of the Americas

Modeled 1886, cast 1886–99

Edward Kemeys (American, 1843–1907)

Edward Kemeys produced both large- and small-scale bronze sculptures—perhaps most notably, the famous lions that flank the Art Institute’s Michigan Avenue entrance (1893.1a and 1893.1b), which were created for the museum’s opening during the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. The artist’s subjects were partially informed by his western travels and studies of animals in their natural habitats. Unlike his Locked in Death, however—which shows animals as predatory—Soul of Contentment is a sentimental study of nature at its most domesticated.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Edward Kemeys (Sculptor)
Title: The Soul of Contentment (Black Bear)
Place: United States (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.: Modeled 1886
Medium: Bronze with black patina
Inscriptions: Signed on right side of base: "Edward Kemeys 1886"
Dimensions: 26.7 × 35.6 × 25.4 cm (10 1/2 × 14 × 10 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Margaret S. Watson
Reference Number: 1899.45
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/56698/manifest.json

Thayer Tolles, et al., The American West in Bronze, 1850–1925, exh. cat. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2013), cat. 24.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, The American West in Bronze, 1850–1925, Dec. 18, 2013–Apr. 13, 2014, cat. 24; Denver Art Museum, May 9–Aug. 31, 2014; China, Nanjing Museum, Sept. 29, 2014–Jan. 18, 2015 (New York and Denver only).

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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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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.

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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.