Inscription
on reverse at top: White Weasel Stoat by J.J. Audubon; on reverse at bottom: W. B. Audubon
Provenance
Probably John James Audubon [1785-1851]; probably by inheritance to his son, John Woodhouse Audubon [1812-1862], Salem, New York; probably by inheritance to his second wife, Caroline Hall Audubon [1811-1899], Salem, New York; by inheritance to her son, William Bakewell Audubon [1847-1932], Australia;[1] by inheritance to his son, Leonard Benjamin Audubon [1888-1951], Sydney, Australia; sold 1950 to E.J.L. Hallstrom [1886-1970], Sydney, Australia; gift 1951 to NGA.
Exhibition History
- 1951
- Audubon Paintings and Prints from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1951.
- 1985
- Extended loan for use by Ambassador Thomas Michael Tulliver Niles, U.S. Embassy residence, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 1985-1989.
Technical Summary
The painting has been lined and windows have been cut into the lining fabric to reveal inscriptions in ink on the reverse. No cusping is visible along the cut fabric edges. A warm, off-white ground layer of moderate thickness was applied over the plain-weave fabric support. Where original paint is visible, it was applied in short refined brushstrokes, with fine applications of thin paint used to indicate the texture of the animals' fur. However, a great deal of the surface is covered with overpaint. Many of the grass stalks are inventions of a restorer, and the sky and back of the weasel on the left are almost completely overpainted. Beneath the overpaint are numerous unfilled losses in the original paint. A large vertical tear, one-third of the way in from the left edge, runs almost from top to bottom. The painting's condition is extremely poor. The thick varnish has become somewhat discolored.
Bibliography
- 1970
- American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 12, repro.
- 1980
- American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 21, repro.
- 1988
- Ford, Alice. John James Audubon: A Biography. New York, 1988: 216.
- 1992
- American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 22, repro.
- 1996
- Kelly, Franklin, with Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr., Deborah Chotner, and John Davis. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1996: 16-18, repro.
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