Tur

Date: 2007
 * [[image:https://s3.amazonaws.com/saam.media/files/styles/x_large/s3/images/2008/2008.4A-C_1a.jpg?itok=lyLgvmLS width="375" height="273" link="@https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/tur-76772"]] || Title: **Tur**

Artist: **Walton Ford** Born: Larchmont, New York 1960

Medium: ink, watercolor and gouache on paper Dimensions: overall: 95 x 132 in. (241.3 x 335.3 cm) Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of the American Art Forum and Nion T. McEvoy

Accession: 2008.4A-C || Walton Ford's large-scale watercolors combine the meticulous detail of naturalist drawings with all the narrative drama of a great film. //Tur// depicts the aurochs, a prehistoric bull that gave rise to modern day bison and cattle. The Latin inscription at the top left of the painting reads: "The Polish call me tur, the Germans call me aurox, and the ignorant call me bison."
 * Artwork Description: **

//Smithsonian American Art Museum: Commemorative Guide//. Nashville, TN: Beckon Books, 2015.

Written along the bottom of each panel are the phrases "Regale Jaktorowska 1620", "Aurochs ~ Bos taurus primigenius", and "Heck's phantom" respectively. The first, "Regale Jaktorowska 1620," is probably a reference to the last known place aurochs lived, Jaktorów Forest in Poland which was a royal forest preserve. The number is probably the approximate date of the species' extinction. According to records the last auroch died in 1627 in Jaktorów Forest. The second phrase appears to be the common and scientific names of the species. Finally, "Heck's phantom" is most likely a reference to Heinz and Lutz Heck who attempted to "breed back" aurochs from domestic cattle in the early twentieth century. It should also be noted that people often confuse aurochs and European bison, or wisent. They are, however, two distinct but related species. Ford is likely referencing that common misconception in the Latin quote written along the top of two of the three panels.
 * About the Artwork: **


 * Suggested Questions: **

About the Aurochs
 * Resources: **

SAAM Collections Page Aurochs Wikipedia Entry Heck cattle Wikipedia Entry European bison Wikipedia Entry Man and Beast article from the New Yorker
 * Links: **