Artwork Information

  • Title:

    Hurd House Frieze (The Bear Hunt)

  • Artist:

    Ufer, Walter

  • Artist Bio:

    American, 1876–1936

  • Date:

    1924

  • Medium:

    Oil on canvas

  • Dimensions:

    14 3/4 x 70 1/2 inches

  • Credit Line:

    Wichita Art Museum, Gift of the Estate of Mr. L.R. Hurd

  • Object Number:

    1945.1.8

  • Display:

    Not Currently on Display


About the Artwork

(Walter Ufer DESCRIPTION OF FRIEZE continued from 1945.1.5)

THE SOUTH WALL – THE BEAR HUNT

To the left, I show Ranches des Taos, which is a neighboring village to Taos. In the foreground – a field of wheat and alfalfa. In the extreme left corner, rising over the foothills, I show Truces Peaks, which are the highest mountains in that part of the United States. The weather has blown over into a clear sky again. In a group of cottonwoods, I show a mountain lion, chased there by tow wolves and this is in symbolism of the hunt. In a group of cottonwoods, I show a mountain lion, chased there by two wolves and this is in symbolism of the hunt. In a group of spruce, I show a large bear on his haunches being attacked by an Indian or two, and behind them, I show a deer running away. I tried in this panel to show the top of a high plateau, a field of boulders or moraine and between this forest and the mountains, I show a line of yellow aspen.