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

Life

Beard was born in

Painesville, Ohio Painesville is a city in and the county seat of Lake County, Ohio, United States, located along the Grand River northeast of Cleveland. Its population was 19,563 at the 2010 census. Painesville is the home of Lake Erie College, Morley Libra ...

. He studied abroad, is associated with the

Düsseldorf school of painting The Düsseldorf school of painting is a term referring to a group of painters who taught or studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Academy (now the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf or Düsseldorf State ...

, and during 1861 relocated to New York City, where, in 1862, he became a member of the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...

. 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. His brother,

James Henry Beard James Henry Beard (April 22, 1812 – October 20, 1893) was an American painter who specialized in the genre of portraits. He was elected as a member of the National Academy of Design in 1872. Early life Beard was born in Buffalo, New York on ...

(1814–1893), was also a painter. William is buried in

Green-Wood Cemetery Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several blo ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, 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

External links

Burial search
at Green-Wood Cemetery *
The American Art Journal by Sarah Burns
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beard, William Holbrook 19th-century American painters American male painters Animal artists People from Painesville, Ohio 1824 births 1900 deaths Artists from Ohio Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery Düsseldorf school of painting 19th-century American male artists