Artwork
The Tiger Hunt
The Tiger Hunt is a watercolor drawing by the Romanticist artist Antoine-Louis Barye. It dates from 1836 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower left in red watercolor: BARYE; verso in graphite: (horizontal, vertical, and diagonal grid lines and preliminary sketches); verso center in graphite: no. 443 (with a horizontal line through '443') / 442 / 6o (upside down) / No 68 / 69 - 49 and other indistinguishable numbering; verso left edge ascending from the lower edge: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 12 13; verso right edge ascending from the lower edge: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13; verso lower edge: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
About this work
Overview
The Tiger Hunt, created by Antoine-Louis Barye around 1836, is a watercolor drawing on wove paper depicting a dramatic hunting scene involving an elephant, hunters, and a tiger.
Subject & Meaning
The artwork captures a chaotic moment in a tiger hunt, with an elephant charging through a landscape, trampling a tiger, while two hunters are aboard. The scene conveys dynamic movement and intense emotion, characteristic of the Romantic emphasis on the sublime.
Technique & Style
Barye employed quick, loose brushstrokes in earthy tones (grays, oranges, blacks, and greenish-yellows) to convey the rapidity and turmoil of the hunt, aligning with his skill as an animalier in capturing animal anatomy and motion.
History & Provenance
Created circa 1836 by Antoine-Louis Barye, a renowned French Romantic sculptor and animalier, known for his dynamic wildlife depictions informed by anatomical and natural studies.
Context
The Tiger Hunt fits within the Romantic art movement, which valued emotion, the sublime, and the portrayal of powerful natural scenes, often emphasizing drama and the awe-inspiring aspects of life and nature.
Legacy
As a work by Barye, it contributes to the legacy of Romantic animalier art, highlighting the artist’s ability to evoke movement and emotion through his chosen medium, in this case, watercolor on wove paper.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Antoine-Louis Barye (French pronunciation: ; 24 September 1795 – 25 June 1875) was a Romantic French sculptor most famous for his work as an animalier, a sculptor of animals. His son and student was the sculptor Alfred Barye.
Untitled
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