A Jaguar

Edward Kemeys

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

America’s first animal sculptor, Kemeys studied his subjects in their native habitat during several expeditions to the American West. Here, the snarling beast resembles a coiled spring ready to propel itself toward an unknown threat. The enormous fangs, flexed tongue, flattened ears, and articulated claws digging into the rock produce an intimidating effect. The mark visible on many of Kemeys’s bronzes, a wolf’s head, is located near his signature.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art