William Holbrook Beard

William Holbrook Beard (April 13, 1824 – February 20, 1900) was an American artistic painter who is known best for his satirical paintings of beasts performing human-like activities.

William Holbrook Beard, 1890.

Life
Self Portrait in the Studio, 1860s, oil on canvas, New York Historical Society.

Beard was born in Painesville, Ohio. He studied abroad, is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting, and during 1861 relocated to New York City, where, in 1862, he became a member of the National Academy of Design.[1] Beard initiated his own artist's studio on Tenth Street in New York City in a building known as the Studio Building.

Beard was a prolific artist. His humorous treatment of bears, cats, dogs, horses and monkeys, generally with some human occupation and expression, usually satirical, gave him a great vogue at one time, and his pictures were much reproduced.[1]

His brother, James Henry Beard (1814–1893), was also a painter.[1]

William is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

  • File:Beard,_William_Holbrook_~_Phantom_Crane,_1891,_oil_on_canvas.jpg
  • File:'The_Witches'_Ride'_by_William_Holbrook_Beard,_1870.jpg
  • File:0005_Scientists_at_Work_by_William_Holbrook_Beard.jpg
  • File:Seminole_Child_with_Bittern_by_William_Holbrook_Beard.jpg
  • File:William_Holbrook_Beard_-_Deer_on_the_Prairie.jpg
  • File:Beard,_William_Holbrook_-_His_Majesty_Receives_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
  • File:Brooklyn_Museum_-_In_the_Forest_-_William_Holbrook_Beard_-_overall.jpg
  • File:Brooklyn_Museum_-_For_What_Was_I_Created?_-_William_Holbrook_Beard_-_overall.jpg
  • File:William_holbrook_beard,_la_scoperta_di_adamo,_1891.jpg
  • File:William_Holbrook_Beard_-_The_Runaway_Match_-_1977.55_-_Smithsonian_American_Art_Museum.jpg
  • File:Susanna_and_the_Elders,_by_William_Holbrook_Beard,_1865,_oil_on_canvas_-_Currier_Museum_of_Art_-_Manchester,_NH_-_DSC07415.jpg
  • File:Power_of_Death_by_William_Holbrook_Beard,_detail,_c._1889-1890,_oil_on_board_-_Fogg_Art_Museum,_Harvard_University_-_DSC01197.jpg
  • File:Flaw_in_the_title_-_painted_by_W.H._Beard_;_engraved_by_Saml._Holyer_(sic)._LCCN2013645198.tif

Article features

In 1999, William Beard was featured in an article in the American Art Journal written by Sarah Burns. He is mentioned among other political satirists of the mid to late 19th century.

Selected works
  • Lo, The Poor Indian (1876) - oil painting, Utah Museum of Fine Arts.

References
  1. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Beard, William Holbrook". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 575.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Holbrook Beard.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.