Farmyard Fowls
c. 1827
Artist, American, 1785 - 1851
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 71.5 x 104 cm (28 1/8 x 40 15/16 in.)
framed: 78.4 x 110.8 x 2.2 cm (30 7/8 x 43 5/8 x 7/8 in.) -
Accession
1951.9.3
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
The artist [1785-1851]; probably by inheritance to his son, John Woodhouse Audubon [1812-1862], Salem, New York; 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.
[1] The painting was seen in 1895 at the home of Mrs. John Woodhouse Audubon by R.W. Shufeldt ("An Hitherto Unpublished Painting by Audubon," The Wilson Bulletin XXII, no. I [March 1910]: 4-5). A note on the back of the painting that purports to explain the circumstances surrounding its creation is signed by "M.R. Audubon." John James Audubon had four children, one of whom was John Woodhouse Audubon [1812-1862]. The younger Audubon married twice; he had two children with his first wife, Maria Bachman [1816-1840], and seven with his second wife, Caroline Hall [1811-1899]. Of the seven, five lived to adulthood; Maria Rebecca Audubon [1843-1925], who signed the note on the back of the painting, was one of the daughters, and William Bakewell Audubon [1847-1932] was one of the sons. William left the United States for Australia in either 1880 or 1882, and he began a new life raising sheep near Yass, a small town about 250 miles west of Sydney. He married Lucy Ann Grovenor in 1885, and they had two children, Leonard Benjamin and Ella Caroline. According to a letter of 9 July 1952 from Ella Caroline Audubon to John Walker (in NGA curatorial files), Audubon paintings were sent to Australia in 1899 or 1900, which would correspond with the death of Caroline Hall Audubon on 1 February 1899. Miss Audubon's letter states that her father arrived in Australia 8 April 1880. However, Walter Audubon gives 21 January 1882 as the date that William Bakewell Audubon sailed for Australia, and he writes also that it was William who "brought with him many paintings by his grandfather, John James Audubon" (see Walter Audubon, Last of the Audubon Line: The Descendants of John Woodhouse Audubon, Franklin, North Carolina, 2002: 72-79).
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1951
Audubon Paintings and Prints from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1951.
1954
[John James Audubon exhibition for the benefit of the Roscoe B. Jackson Memorial Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine], Kennedy Galleries, New York, 1954.
1961
Extended loan for use by The White House, Washington, D.C., 1961-1962.
1985
Extended loan for use by Ambassador Thomas Michael Tulliver Niles, U.S. Embassy residence, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 1985-1989.
2004
Art and the Oval Office: Presidential Selections from the Nation's Museums, 1960-2000, The Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, 2004-2005, no cat.
Bibliography
1910
Shufeldt, R. W. "An Hitherto Unpublished Painting by Audubon." Wilson Bulletin 22 (March 1910): 4-5.
1970
American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 10, repro.
1980
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 21, repro.
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: 14-16, repro.
Inscriptions
lower right, first five letters added during 1951 conservation treatment: Audubon
Wikidata ID
Q20185556