The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

The Bee Tree

The Bee Tree

1930
(American, 1887–1964)
Framed: 87.6 x 113 x 5.5 cm (34 1/2 x 44 1/2 x 2 3/16 in.); Unframed: 76.8 x 102.2 cm (30 1/4 x 40 1/4 in.)
© Wilcox Family Collection LLC
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The artist represents himself as the young man straddling the tree in the center of the composition.

Description

Recalling an event that took place decades earlier during a family reunion on a farm in Brecksville, Ohio, this painting depicts the felling of a tree to extract a honeycomb in its trunk. The artist-who taught more than 40 years at his alma mater, the Cleveland School (now Institute) of Art-presents himself as the young man straddling the tree in the center of the composition.
  • Frank Wilcox Entry Card to 1946 May Show. Cleveland Museum of Art May Show Records, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    Robinson, William H., et. al. Transformations in Cleveland Art, 1796-1946: Community and Diversity in Early Modern America. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 125
    Wilcox, Frank Nelson. Two preparatory drawings for The Bee Tree, 1930. Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
  • An Ohio Childhood. Decorative Arts Center of Ohio, Lancaster, OH (organizer) (September 10-December 31, 2016).
    Transformations in Cleveland Art, 1796-1946. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 19-July 21, 1996).
    The May Show: 28th Annual Exhibition of Works by Cleveland Artists and Craftsmen. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 13-June 9, 1946).
  • {{cite web|title=The Bee Tree|url=false|author=Frank Wilcox|year=1930|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2012.119