Cutout of Animals

second quarter 19th century

Dozens of animals and eight people are arranged in a pattern resembling a family tree, so each side is mostly a mirror image of the other in this nearly square work made of watercolor and cut paper. The areas between the people and animals has been cut away so the manila-yellow paper behind shows through. The people have pale or tan-colored skin. The animals and birds face each other along the center axis, and some of the areas between the animals are filled in with vines or areas of topaz blue, teal green, off white, or butter yellow, speckled with dark dashes or polka dots. A band of green along the bottom reads as a grass ground, across which are arranged mirrored pairs of hump-backed camels, bears, groundhogs, and squirrels. At the center, a woman wearing a long tangerine-orange skirt riding a large brown dog faces a man wearing an aquamarine-blue shirt and cream-white pants riding astride a black dog. Up along the axis are pairs of peacocks, caribou, horses, stags, and giraffes. To either side are zebras, cats, foxes, cheetahs, goats, birds, lions, turtles, butterflies, and other animals. A pair of men in military uniforms face inward from the center to the left and right sides. Near the top, a woman and man stand or sit astride an elephant to either side. The people here have light brown skin and wear feathered headdresses.

Media Options

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Artwork overview


Artwork history & notes

Bibliography

1966

  • 101 Primitive Watercolors and Pastels, from the Collection of Edgar William Garbisch and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1966: 47.

1974

  • Lipman, Jean, and Alice Winchester. The Flowering of American Folk Art. New York, 1974: fig.128.

Inscriptions

lower center on dog collars: Carlo / Ponto

Wikidata ID

Q64534825


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