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Artist/Maker
Dorothy Shakespear
(British, 1886 – 1973)
Datebefore 1939
MediumPencil and watercolor
DimensionsOverall: 26 1/4 in. × 76 in. (66.7 × 193 cm)
Credit LineExtended loan from the estate of Omar S. Pound, Class of 1951
Object numberINV.950
On view
DescriptionThis large watercolor mural was created by Dorothy Shakespear, one of the few women artists associated with the Vorticists, an avant-garde movement that emerged in Britain just before World War I. Titled Menagerie, the artwork is a remarkable example of Shakespear’s subsequent artistic development. Trained as a landscape artist by her father and inspired by the simplified forms and colors of proto-Renaissance paintings in Italy, as well as the work of Vorticists Wyndham Lewis and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Shakespear forged her own artistic path with elements drawn from all facets of her life. She is nearly always discussed in relation to her husband, the influential and infamous American poet Ezra Pound, Class of 1905. Their lives were intertwined starting with their early courtship in 1909, moving from London to Paris and finally to Italy in 1924. Menagerie’s architectural elements and its light, warm palette suggest an Italian influence, while Shakespear’s longstanding affinity for feline subjects is evident and
they frequently appear in her artwork. The mural’s majestic birds and big cats are remarkably similar to those found in some of the studies that the artist made at the zoo in Rome.
Collections
Additional Details
Alternate Titles
Wall Mural (Cats)
Exhibition History
2024-2025
Clinton, NY. The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College. "Menagerie: Animals in Art from the Wellin Museum," September 7, 2024 –June 8, 2025 (no cat.).
Clinton, NY. The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College. "Menagerie: Animals in Art from the Wellin Museum," September 7, 2024 –June 8, 2025 (no cat.).
Published References
Laughlin, James. Pound as Wuz: Essays and Lectures on Ezra Pound (1987, Graywolf Press), pg. 40.
Pound, Dorothy and David A. Lewis. Dorothy Shakespear, 1886-1973 : An Exhibition of Dreamscapes and Alphabets (Stephen F. Austin State University, 1997), pg. 19.
Pound, Dorothy and David A. Lewis. Dorothy Shakespear, 1886-1973 : An Exhibition of Dreamscapes and Alphabets (Stephen F. Austin State University, 1997), pg. 19.
Signature
Recto, lower left corner: "DS"
Dorothy Shakespear
Date: 1937
Medium: Watercolor on paper, mounted on cardboard
Object number: 1996.10
Dorothy Shakespear
Date: c. 1914-19
Medium: Watercolor and graphite on paper
Object number: 1994.200
Henri Gaudier-Brzeska
Date: c. 1913
Medium: Seravazza and Sicilian marble
Object number: 2005.6.2
Wyndham Lewis
Date: 1918
Medium: Charcoal, pen and ink, watercolor, and gouache wash on paper
Object number: 1995.73
Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka
Date: 2021
Medium: Sumi paintings on washi, linocut on washi, rice bags, indigo, kakishibu, and gyotaku on washi, konnyaku, and handmade deckle box gampi paper
Object number: 2024.15
Kiki Smith
Date: 1995
Medium: Ink on handmade Japanese paper
Object number: 1998.3.5
Dorothy Shakespear
Date: 1999
Medium: Printed book
Object number: 2002.31
Renée Stout
Date: 2008-10
Medium: Acrylic, latex paint, spray paint, plastic rhinestones, wood, glass, metal, varnish, collage, and found objects
Object number: 2016.2
Silvia Saunders
Date: c. 1931-1937
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 1969.7.7