Mutual Surprise

Edwin Willard Deming

1907 · Bronze · The American Wing

An illustrator, painter, and sculptor, Deming specialized in the depiction of animal life in the American West. Bears were a favorite subject and he modeled them in pursuits both violent and amusing. The sculptor invested humor in an unexpected encounter between two creatures by emphasizing the contrasting sizes of a bear cub and a snapping turtle. This light moment is enhanced by the questioning pose of the open-mouthed turtle and the grinning visage and looming stance of the gawky bear. Statuettes depicting the gentler side of nature were produced by other contemporaneous animal sculptors such as Eli Harvey, Edward Kemeys, and Alexander Phimister Proctor.

Artist

Edwin Willard Deming

Date

1907

Medium

Bronze

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1908