Happy, Crazy, American Animals and a Man and Lady at My Place

John Wilde, Happy, Crazy, American Animals and a Man and Lady at My Place, 1961, oil on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., 1969.47.47
Copied John Wilde, Happy, Crazy, American Animals and a Man and Lady at My Place, 1961, oil on wood, 12 x 17 7⁄8 in. (30.4 x 45.3 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., 1969.47.47

Artwork Details

Title
Happy, Crazy, American Animals and a Man and Lady at My Place
Artist
Date
1961
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
12 x 17 7⁄8 in. (30.4 x 45.3 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc.
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on wood
Classifications
Keywords
  • Figure group
  • Animal — cat
  • Animal — bird
  • Figure female — nude
  • Animal — deer
  • Animal — wolf
  • Animal — armadillo
  • Architecture Interior — domestic — house
  • Animal — opossum
Object Number
1969.47.47
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1969.47.47

Artwork Description

John Wilde paints in painstaking detail, filling his small images with real and imagined creatures. He incorporates nude female figures to symbolize nature, and in this work the running woman echoes the galloping pronghorn antelope beside her. Wilde's careful technique makes all the animals appear frozen in time, but it is easy to imagine them coming back to life at any moment, screeching and thumping their way through the house. The artist himself stands in the very back of the scene, watching the madness unfold with a calm expression as if he is controlling every movement.