William H. Beard (1825-1900)

William Holbrook Beard was born in 1825 in Painesville, Ohio. He was an untrained artist who learned much from his older brother, James Henry Beard.

In 1856, Beard traveled abroad in Italy, Germany, and Switzerland. There he met and befriended many American artists including Albert Bierstadt, and Thomas Worthington Whittredge.

In 1858, William Beard moved back to Buffalo, New York and assisted in building an artist community that two years later became the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy. Beard toured and exhibited his work at length, but reserved the best of his work for the National Academy of Design, where he became a member in 1862.

In 1866, while Beard was traveling to see the western United States by train, he wrote home disappointed with the boring landscape. He was specifically disappointed that he didn’t see more buffalo. His boredom inspired him to look at animals in a different light, one with a human perspective.

William Holbrook Beard was best known for his depictions of animals displaying human characteristics and qualities, and often human vices. His works were both humorous and satirical of the human condition. William Holbrook Beard died in New York City in 1900.