Wild Boars

Copied Heinz Warneke, Wild Boars, ca. 1931, marble, 18 3⁄4 x 13 7⁄8 x 26 3⁄8 in. (47.7 x 35.3 x 67.0 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Heinz Warneke, 1993.44.1

Artwork Details

Title
Wild Boars
Artist
Date
ca. 1931
Location
Dimensions
18 3⁄4 x 13 7⁄8 x 26 3⁄8 in. (47.7 x 35.3 x 67.0 cm.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Heinz Warneke
Mediums
Mediums Description
marble
Classifications
Subjects
  • Animal — pig
Object Number
1993.44.1
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1993.44.1

Artwork Description

In 1935, Wild Boars was awarded the George D. Widener Memorial Gold Medal, an award given to many fine American sculptures by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The work was inspired by a smaller sculpture that Heinz Warneke had made out of granite. In this version he focused on the features that made the boars distinctive---the proportionally large head and jowls, the small, squat legs---and exaggerated them. The sleek, polished surface of the marble makes the boars seem stoic and massive in spite of their small scale.