Provenance

Avalon Foundation

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A barefoot man wearing tattered clothing, with his hands clasped at his chest, kneels at the feet of an old, bearded man in this almost square painting. The pair is flanked by five people on our right and a man, boy, and calf on our left. All the people have pale skin. The kneeling man faces our right in profile and tilts his head up to look at the old man who embraces him. The younger man has shaggy, dark brown hair and a heavy five o'clock shadow. A small white dog jumps at his dirty, bare feet. The old man has a long gray beard and wears a black skullcap over gray hair. His voluminous dusty rose-pink cloak drapes over a teal-blue robe. To our right of the pair are a child, a woman, and three men. Some look at the embracing men while the others look at each other. At the front of that grouping, two men have brown hair and wispy mustaches. One wears a golden-yellow tunic and holds a silver tray piled with a shimmering sky-blue and pale pink garment, a bright white shirt, and a pair of sandals. Just beyond him and looking into his face, the second man wears gray with a dark green cloak draped over one shoulder. He holds up a gold ring with a ruby-red stone. To our left of the embracing men, a smiling blond boy leads the calf into the scene. Just beyond him is a thin, muscular man carrying an ax over one shoulder as he gazes down at the boy. The scene is set in a courtyard with walls that extend back on either side. Billowing putty-gray and white clouds fill the background.
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, The Return of the Prodigal Son, 1667/1670, oil on canvas, Gift of the Avalon Foundation, 1948.12.1

The Return of the Prodigal Son

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo · 1667/1670 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1948.12.1

We look onto two black-headed ducks twisting and flailing midair against a slate-gray landscape in this horizontal painting. The silvery white body of the bird to our left faces us as its neck twists to our left, its black wings extended. The bird to our right falls with its head facing down, its gray wings partially contracted and its legs splayed. The landscape behind them is made up of a sliver of golden amber along the top edge above three wider bands of steel gray that darken toward the bottom of the canvas. A spray of turquoise near the bottom center of the painting indicates that the gray bands are cresting waves. Seen in the distance beyond the feet of the left bird, a gray smudge suggests smoke obscuring a man wearing a gray garment and vivid orange cap. His elbows are raised, presumably holding a shotgun. He sits in a long brown canoe that rides near the crest of the middle wave.
Winslow Homer, Right and Left, 1909, oil on canvas, Gift of the Avalon Foundation, 1951.8.1

Right and Left

Winslow Homer · 1909 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1951.8.1

Shown from the chest up, a pale-skinned man wearing a coat and cravat looks off to our left with his chin tipped slightly up in this vertical portrait painting. The man’s shoulders and chest face us, but he turns to the left to look off in that direction with blue eyes under straight brows that angle up toward the center. He has a straight nose, rosy cheeks, full, bow-shaped lips, and a double chin. His wavy gray hair is brushed back from his high forehead and falls to his ears. His ivory-white ascot has a lacy border and is tied snugly around his neck with a bow in front. It is tucked into the high collar of his camel-brown jacket. His right arm, on our left, angles away from his body while the other is close to his side. He is warmly lit from the front set against a dark brown background.
John Trumbull, Alexander Hamilton, c. 1792, oil on canvas, Gift of the Avalon Foundation, 1952.1.1

Alexander Hamilton

John Trumbull · c. 1792 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1952.1.1

This painting shows a woman sitting, her body facing the left and her head turned to look at us, with one arm resting on a wooden surface on the right. She has dark hair partially covered by a bright yellow scarf or cap, light skin, deep-set eyes, pale eyebrows, and thin lips set in a neutral expression. She wears a white blouse with wide sleeves that is partially covered by a black bodice with a wide red neckline. Her skirt is black, although in the front she appears to be covered by a blanket or apron with colorful abstract designs in red, tan, and green, with some horizontal black stripes. She also wears large silver hoop earrings, multiple silver necklaces, and a silver ring on her hand. The background is a blend of muted green and brown tones, with a hint of pale blue in the upper left corner.
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Italian Woman (La Morieri), c. 1872, oil on canvas, Gift of the Avalon Foundation, 1954.6.1

Italian Woman (La Morieri)

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot · c. 1872 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1954.6.1