Hunting Scene with a Pond

18th century

Twenty-one dogs run and eight pale-skinned men on horseback gallop from right to left across a grassy field in this horizontal landscape painting. Most of the dogs are white with tawny brown spots but a few are darker brown. At the back of the pack, some of the men raise riding crops over the brown, black, or white horses. The men wear tailcoats, shirts, riding pants, boots, and hats in shades of brown, blue, golden yellow, and black. A ninth man runs on foot, hat in hand as he gestures at something to our left. Another man chases after a rearing brown horse to our right beyond this group, and about a dozen waterfowl float in the oval lake in the near distance to our left. Further back, beige and tan houses with copper-colored roofs are enclosed by a fence. Plumes of dark smoke rise from the chimneys into the watery blue sky. An oversized brown rabbit sits to the left of the lake, out of scale with the rest of the picture. The overall tonality of the landscape is dark and murky, especially in the dark green of the lawn.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 65.8 x 127.4 cm (25 7/8 x 50 3/16 in.)
    framed: 72.7 x 134 x 3.1 cm (28 5/8 x 52 3/4 x 1 1/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1970.17.102

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Ailsa Mellon Bruce [1901-1969], New York; bequest 1970 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1987

  • Extended loan for use by Ambassador John Shad, U.S. Embassy residence, The Hague, The Netherlands, 1987-1989.

1989

  • Extended loan for use by Ambassador Howard Wilkins, U.S. Embassy residence, The Hague, The Netherlands, 1989-1990.

1993

  • Extended loan for use by Richard Aaron, U.S. Ambassador to the U.S. Mission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, France, 1993-1997.

2010

  • American Naive Paintings from the Garbisch Collection at the National Gallery of Art, Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, Virginia, 2010, no cat.

2017

  • Extended loan for use by Secretary Sonny Perdue, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., 2017-2021.

Bibliography

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 310, as by Unknown [Formerly Considered American].

1992

  • Chotner, Deborah, with contributions by Julie Aronson, Sarah D. Cash, and Laurie Weitzenkorn. American Naive Paintings. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 497-499, repro. 498.

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 405, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20177714

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