Cactus from Mexico

1885

Edward Kemble

Associated Names
Edward Kemble

Artist, American, 1861 - 1933

Two men are depicted standing in front of a large agave plant. The man on the left is holding a cigar close to his mouth with his left hand. He has a mustache, dark, bushy eyebrows, and is wearing a bowler hat, long coat, pants, and shoes. The man on the right has his right hand on his hip and his left hand extended, pointing at the cigar of the first man. He wears a hat with a wide brim, a scarf, long-sleeve shirt, pants, and shoes. In the background, a large agave plant dominates the scene, with a building faintly visible in the distance. Birds are drawn in the sky.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pen and black ink on wove paper

  • Credit Line

    Corcoran Collection (Museum exchange)

  • Dimensions

    image (irregular): 32.7 × 26.35 cm (12 7/8 × 10 3/8 in.)
    sheet: 38.1 × 30.48 cm (15 × 12 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2015.19.982

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Mr. E. Maurice Bloch, Los Angeles, California; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1960; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1981

  • The Artist as Illustrator, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1981, no. 18

Bibliography

1885

  • Smalley, Eugene V. "In and Out of the New Orleans Exposition." Century Magazine 30 (June 1885): pp. 185-199.

1983

  • Simmons, Linda Crocker and with the assistance of Adrianne J. Humphrey, et al. American Drawings, Watercolors, Pastels, and Collages in the Collection of the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington, DC: Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1983: p. 123, no. 830.

Inscriptions

lower right in black ink: Kemble; lower left in graphite by unknown hand: [not deciphered] plate on or before / cactus from Mexico - Century; lower center in graphite by unknown hand: 10 1/2 - 13 1/2 / [not deciphered] - 19 1/2; lower right in brown ink by unknown hand: 3 1/2 / 91233 / 20; lower right in graphite by unknown hand: Ro[not deciphered]; upper left verso in graphite by unknown hand: $3.00 [circled]; upper left verso in graphite by unknown hand: RA; verso in blue colored pencil: Cty. / a 173 [circled] / Kemble, EW / P / 11 x13 / 30 -190 / 35; lower right verso in graphite by unknown hand: Century / Magazine / E. W. Kemble / a very famous / illustrator / Cactus from Mexico / June 1885

Markings

embossed lower left: BRISTOL BOARD EXTRA SUPER [circled] / A N C N Y [with clover]

Wikidata ID

Q64557295

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