Landscape with Bears and Wolves

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Artist

Karl Bodmer

Birth and death dates

1809 - 1893

Artist Nationality

Swiss

Title

Landscape with Bears and Wolves

Date

July 1833

Dimensions

7 7/8 × 12 9/16 in. (20 × 31.9 cm)

Medium

Graphite and ink on paper

Institution

Joslyn Art Museum

Credit Line

Gift of the Enron Art Foundation

Accession Number

1986.49.215.a

Rights (i.e. copyright information)

Joslyn Art Museum

Photographer credit

Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2019

Commentary

Bodmer's sketch of the river landscape featuring the figures of bears and wolves devouring the carcass of a bison at the river's edge is presumed from the appearance of high bluffs pictured in the background to have been done at some point above Fort Union en route to Fort McKenzie in the summer of 1833. Such sights were common on the upper Missouri of that day, and Maximilian frequently mentioned in his account the presence of wolves near the buffalo and elk herds above Fort Union. An aquatint depicting hunters from the boat chasing grizzlies from a partly devoured carcass on the riverbank was included as Tableau 36 in the atlas later published in Europe. The aquatint corresponds closely with descriptions of hunting grizzlies recorded in Maximilian's journal on July 18 and 19.

References in Journal

July 18, 1833

Labels:

genre, riverscape , landscape , Fort Union, North Dakota

Approximate Depicted Location:

Above Fort Union, North Dakota