Law of the Wild

1881

Charles S. Raleigh

Associated Names
Charles S. Raleigh

Artist, American, 1831 - 1925

This is a painting of a polar bear attacking a seal on an iceberg in the ocean. The bear has cream-colored fur with some patches of dark yellow, and its large paws end in sharp claws. The seal has sleek brown fur or skin. The bear is poised atop the struggling seal, one of its large paws raised upward and the other clawing the seal's side. The seal's mouth is open, its head turned to look back at the bear. The icy landscape includes jagged ice formations and a green-blue ocean that stretches to the horizon, with a distant ship sailing next to another tall iceberg. The sky above is flat gray, with some lighter tones near the horizon.

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Recorded as from Connecticut. (The Old Print Shop, New York), by whom sold in 1964 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; gift to NGA, 1971.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1978

  • The American Folk Art Tradition: Paintings from the Garbisch Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978.

1985

  • American Naive Paintings from the Naitonal Gallery of Art, traveling exh. by the International Exhibitions Foundation, Washington, 1985-1987, no. 53, color repro. First venue: Museum of American Folk Art, New York.

1988

  • La Nascita di Una Nazione: Pittori americani dalla National Gallery of Art di Washington 1730-1880, Palazzo Pepoli Campogrande, Bologna; Galleria Internazionale d'Arte Moderna di Ca'Pesaro, Venice, 1988-1989, no. 53, repro.

Bibliography

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 214, repro.

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: 315, color repro. 316.

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 269, repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: C. S. Raleigh / 1881

Wikidata ID

Q20188881

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