Tumbling Bears sculpture, National Zoo - Washington DC
Description
Heinz Warneke created a red granite sculpture for the National Zoo, entitled “Tumbling Bears,” in 1938. It sits at the bottom of a hill near the Large Cat area. A plaque on the sculpture calls it Tumbling Bears, but it is also known as the “Wrestling Bear Cubs” and “Wrestling Bears.”
Though the date at the base of the sculpture reads “1935,” it seems that this work was not finished until 1938. The Evening Star (1938) reported that the Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture submitted to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts “a sculptural group by Heinz Warneke of East Haddam, Conn., depicting a group of playing bears. This is designed to be placed in the National Zoological Park here.”
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Hans Warneke, "Tumbling Bears", National Zoo - Washington DC
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Plaque on base of Tumbling Bears sculpture, National Zoo - Washington DC
Source notes
Miles, Betty. “Heinz Warneke: A Sculptor With Roots in Nature.” The Washington Star Pictorial Magazine, Nov. 1, 1953, p. 4.
“Noted Fountain Discussed Here.” The Evening Star, May 7, 1938, p. A-8.
Project originally submitted by Kent Boese on July 22, 2013.
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