Based on the painting, Bear Dance (1870) by artist William Holbrook Beard (1824-1900). Straight from a painting admired by bankers and stock brokers for decades, our lumbering bear statue has been sculpted to stand over 2½ feet high. Cast in quality designer resin, our exclusive bear sculpture is finished in a rich, faux bronze. While dancing to the almost imperceptible beat of financial investors and wildlife lovers everywhere, our black bear statue makes an unparalleled focal point in den, office or garden. 28 lbs About the Artist
William Holbrook Beard (1825-1900)
Born in Painesville, Ohio, William Beard painted anthropomorphic, satiric genre scenes with animals engaged in human activity, and frequently bears were his symbols for human beings. Early in his career, he was basically self-taught. From 1856 to 1858, he traveled in Europe and met and painted with many American artists including Emanuel Leutze, Sanford Gifford, Worthington Whittredge, and Albert Bierstadt. He returned to America and set up a studio in Buffalo, New York.
In 1866, he traveled West by train, and in Colorado his companion was Bayard Taylor, a writer and lecturer. He wrote to his wife, the daughter of New York portraitist Thomas le Clear that he thought the landscape was monotonous, was disappointed he didn't see more buffalo, and was unhappy with wild life and hardship living. As a result, he turned more and more to his imagination, retaining an interest in wildlife but not in studying their habits and environment first hand. William Beard is generally regarded as a better artist than James Beard, but both were successful during their lifetimes. William died in New York City.