[Geysers] Stolen- Yellowstone Art

[V]

Hi everyone- 
I was waiting for Lee to send this through but I 
have not seen it on the Geyser list so far.
I am forwarding this to people who collect YNP 
items (as I do).  Hopefully, they will be caught!
Thanks 
Vicky 

A message from Lee Whittlesey, Park Historian:

Many of you are familiar with the Union Pacific Bears images
of Yellowstone National Park as well as the cartoonlike bears
images that today grace the Old Faithful Inn dining room
and Bear Pit Bar in the form of glass panels. These bear
images are well known to Yellowstone afficionadoes.

Both the Union Pacific Bears and the Bear Pit images were
originally painted in the 1920s and 1930s by artist Walter
Oehrle (pronounced EARLY) and were published in a small
pamphlet that was given away by the Yellowstone Park
Company. They were rendered into woodcuts, which graced
the inside of the Bear Pit Lounge at Old Faithful Inn for many
years. A couple of these woodcuts are still on the walls of
the Old Faithful Inn Snack Shop. During a recent remodeling,
the images were redone in cut glass, and today they appear
on the walls of the Old Faithful dining room and Bear Pit Lounge.

Recently Walter Oehrle's original eleven Bear Pit paintings were
STOLEN from the residence of Dan Fey of Seattle, a descendant
of Oehrle's. There are eleven paintings, each rendered in brown
and white (two-tone) on cardboard, each about 20 inches by
24 inches in size.

As you might imagine, the owner is quite upset about this
theft and has the Seattle police fully involved. Should anyone
encounter these images or information on their whereabouts,
please email Dan Fey at dfey at seakingwdc.org or call him at
(206) 329-6525 (home) or (206) 448-0474 (work).

These images may eventually be offered on Ebay to collectors,
to a rare book or art dealer, or to a library or archives. PLEASE
BE ON THE ALERT FOR ANY OF THESE IMAGES. Yellowstone
collectors are likely to be in the group of people to whom they
may be offered. A copy of this message will be placed in the
Yellowstone National Park History Archives so that those who
come after us can know of the theft in case the perpetrator
waits for many years to "unload" the materials.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO ANY FRIENDS YOU MAY
HAVE WHO ARE RARE BOOK OR ART DEALERS, ARCHIVISTS,
LIBRARIANS, OR YELLOWSTONE COLLECTORS, any of whom
could be offered a chance to purchase these stolen materials.

Lee H. Whittlesey
Park Historian, National Park Service


		
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