The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

The King of Beasts

The King of Beasts

1977
(American, 1907–2007)
Image: 16 x 10 cm (6 5/16 x 3 15/16 in.); Sheet: 16 x 10 cm (6 5/16 x 3 15/16 in.)
© Lenore G. Tawney Foundation
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Lenore Tawney was a pioneering fiber artist known for large-scale public installations, but her postcard collages were personal missives to close friends on an intimate scale.

Description

This is one of 44 postcard collages in the CMA’s collection that the textile artist Lenore Tawney sent through the mail to her friend, the art dealer, curator, and critic Katherine Kuh between 1969 and 1981. Using natural objects and ephemera that she compiled over a lifetime, Tawney’s collages display the artist’s personal visual vocabulary and poetic response to materials. Recurring images—such as eggs, feathers, birds, baby animals, crosses, and circles—engage with universal themes such as vulnerability, resilience, infinity, and spirituality. Baby animals such as this lion cub can refer to vulnerability, rebirth, or the life force.
  • 1977
    Lenore Tawney (the artist) [1907-1997]
    1977-82
    Katharine Kuh [1904-1994]
    March 8, 1982
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Stories From Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).
    America Draws. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1984-March 17, 1985).
    The Year in Review for 1981. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
  • {{cite web|title=The King of Beasts|url=false|author=Lenore Tawney|year=1977|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1981.186