James Henry Beard

What might this chimpanzee be pondering? The inclusion of Charles Darwin’s 1871 Descent of Man and Pythagoras’s Theory of Metampsychosis, which concerns the transmigration of souls to new bodies, encourages viewers and chimpanzees alike to ponder theories of evolution. The painting is more than a symbolic work, however. It is also a portrait of a well-known chimpanzee named Mr. Crowley who lived at the Central Park Zoo. James Henry Beard, like his brother, often painted animals in human guises to address issues of their day.