# Three Beavers Building a Dam

- By: Wilhelm Tischbein (German, 1751–1829)
- Date: c. 1800
- Medium: Watercolor, pen and brown ink, and touches of black chalk, on cream laid paper, laid down on ivory laid paper, with a pieced overlapping border toned with brown watercolor
- Classification: Drawing and Watercolor
- Dimensions: Primary support: 32.5 × 40.2 cm (12 13/16 × 15 7/8 in.); Sheet with border: 40.5 × 47.9 cm (16 × 18 7/8 in.)
- Culture: Germany
- Credit line: Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/186414)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/a9aa25bc11054108022c2f79a33d7167.jpg
- Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein experimented with animal physiognomy in many drawings. Inspired by the Swiss philosopher Johann Kaspar Lavater, the artist believed a person’s character depended on the animal he resembled. As Tischbein wrote in 1796, “I have undertaken another \[series of drawings\] in order to learn more about man. To make this study easier it is necessary to begin with beasts, since they are easier and their characters more evident.” Traditionally busy animals, these furry beavers exhibit human expressions as they focus diligently on the difficult task of stemming an exuberant waterfall.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0