Hunt Scene, Three Wolves Attacking a Horse

Wilhelm Hunt Diederich

ca. 1920 · Wrought iron · Modern and Contemporary Art

This two-dimensional plaque, designed for placement in a window, is a circular arrangement of four frenzied animals within an octagonal outer edge. The serration of the wolves' fur and tails and the animals' stylized and dynamic bodies seem to be an early manifestation of Art Deco, but they also derive from folk art, particularly the decorative carvings and embroideries of Diederich's native Hungary that he so admired. When Diederich gave this plaque to his friend the artist George Biddle about 1930, Biddle installed it in a circular gable window of the house he was building in Croton-on-Hudson, New York.

Artist

Wilhelm Hunt Diederich

Date

ca. 1920

Medium

Wrought iron

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Gift of George Biddle, 1971