- 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.
At this Location:
- National Zoo: Elephant House - Washington DC
- National Zoo: Small Mammal House - Washington DC
- National Zoo: Mortellito Murals (Lost) - Washington DC
- National Zoo: New Exhibit Areas - Washington DC
- National Zoo: Harvard Street Entrance - Washington DC
- National Zoo: Mane Cafe - Washington DC
- National Zoo: Machine and Carpentry Shops Building - Washington DC
- National Zoo: Additions and Improvements - Washington DC
- National Zoo: Bird House Addition - Washington DC
- National Zoo: Knight Bas-Reliefs - Washington DC
- National Zoo: Mortellito Bas Reliefs - Washington DC
- National Zoo: Springweiler Sculpture - Washington DC
- National Zoo: Fulda/Mortellito Bas-Reliefs - Washington DC
- National Zoo: Springweiler Bas-Reliefs - Washington DC
Contribute to this Site
We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal site.
Submit More Information or Photographs for this New Deal Site
Join the Conversation