Highlights of the Academy collection of Seton Drawings and Paintings
Big Bear of Alaska/Ernest Thompson Seton
ALL#109 Pen & Ink on paper. Ca. 1920s. 16.8 x 26.1cm. Synoptic drawing. Likely drawn by Seton at his New York or Connecticut studios. Sheet glued to mat. Published in Lives of Game Animals Vol. II, pg. 93. Flanked by an arrowhead (not much of a weapon against this great beast) and a fish (lunch for the bear), the Giant Brown-Bear was the boss of the north country prior to the introduction of the gun.
As I know from my visit to Canada’s Aylmer Lake, the presence of the Grizzly Bear of whatever subspecies weighs on one’s mind while wilderness camping. Members of this group are subjects of the annual Fat Bear Week. A good idea to objectify them in this way—or not? The cruel tradition of “Dancing Bears,” entertainment for humans goes back centuries. This is not the same, but we must recognize the ecological value—the bears are there for themselves not for us.
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