"Logging Tiger - Invention of the Chain Saw"

Date1993

Artist/Maker Thornton Dial Sr. 1928 - 2016

MediumWatercolor on paper.

DimensionsUnframed: 22" x 29 3/4". Framed: 31" x 39".

Credit LineGift of Dr. and Mrs. T. Marshall Hahn, Jr.

Object number1996.301.1

DescriptionWatercolor image of a purple tiger with abstract faces in a blue and orange background. The tiger's circular stripe pattern was said by the artist to resemble tree rings on cut log.Label TextThornton Dial lived most of his life near Bessemer, Alabama. He particularly enjoyed working with his hands, spending time as a carpenter, house painter, and iron worker. In his spare time, Dial made sculptures from recycled materials.

A longtime employee of the Pullman Standard Company, Dial also learned to draw by studying machine illustrations. When the Pullman factory closed in 1981, he retired and dedicated his remaining years to art. Dial’s works often illustrate the struggle for civil rights in the South, and he frequently included tigers as an allegorical symbol of empowerment.