Beast with Wings
Ulysses Davis
American, 1914–1990
Details
Title
Beast with Wings
Artist/Maker
Ulysses Davis (American, 1914–1990)
Date
ca. 1988
Medium
Painted yellow pine, metal and plastic beads
Dimensions
39 x 4 1/4 x 11 inches
Credit
Gift of James E. Allen in memory of Ulysses Davis
Accession #
1991.351
Location
Currently not on view
Ulysses Davis’s meticulously carved wooden sculptures are remarkable for their diverse range of subject matter and expressive intensity. The Savannah artist “whittled” wood in between customers at his barbershop, which he owned and operated for many years. By the time of his death, Davis had created more than 300 carvings inspired by history, politics, fantasy, and religion. This reptile, which swallows a snake, is an example of the zoological creatures of Davis’s imagination, which he called “Created Beasts.” He explained that most were from dinosaur days.