Branding

Claire Falkenstein, Branding, 1943, India ink, colored pencil, pencil and watercolor on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Claire Falkenstein McCarthy Trust, 1998.24.4
Copied Claire Falkenstein, Branding, 1943, India ink, colored pencil, pencil and watercolor on paper, 14 1218 34 in. (36.847.6 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Claire Falkenstein McCarthy Trust, 1998.24.4

Artwork Details

Title
Branding
Date
1943
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
14 1218 34 in. (36.847.6 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Claire Falkenstein McCarthy Trust
Mediums Description
India ink, colored pencil, pencil and watercolor on paper
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure
  • Animal — cattle
  • Occupation — farm — animal husbandry
  • Abstract
Object Number
1998.24.4

Artwork Description

Claire Falkenstein grew up riding her horse along Coos Bay in Oregon and began incorporating animals into her art at an early age. Though her preferred medium shifted dramatically during her seven-decade career – from painting and drawing to jewelry and monumental sculpture – much of her work retained the sense of motion and interwoven parts that characterize Branding. In Falkenstein’s vision of cattle branding, close inspection reveals the outline of steers, male figures, a branding iron, hooves, and a fence.

Abstract Drawings, 2012