National Zoo: Warneke Sculpture – Washington DC

State:
WASHINGTON-DC

Site Type:
Art Works, Sculptures

New Deal Agencies:
Treasury Section of Fine Arts (TSFA), Arts Programs

Completed:
1938

Artist:
Heinz Warneke

Quality of Information:
Good

Marked:
Yes

Site Survival:
Extant

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.”

 

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.

 

Site originally submitted by Kent Boese on July 22, 2013.

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