Long-Tailed Weasel, c. 1845

Not on View

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 51.2 x 61.5 cm (20 3/16 x 24 3/16 in.)

framed: 57.8 x 68 x 1.9 cm (22 3/4 x 26 3/4 x 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of E.J.L. Hallstrom

Accession Number

1951.9.4

Artists / Makers

Anonymous Artist (painter)

John James Audubon (related artist) American, 1785 - 1851

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Inscription

on reverse at top: White Weasel Stoat by J.J. Audubon; on reverse at bottom: W. B. Audubon

Provenance

Probably John James Audubon [1785-1851]; probably by inheritance to his son, John Woodhouse Audubon [1812-1862], Salem, New York; probably 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] Handwritten in ink on the back of the painting is: "W.B. 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; 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

Audubon, Caroline Hall
Audubon, John James
Audubon, John Woodhouse
Audubon, Leonard Benjamin
Audubon, William Bakewell
Hallstrom, E.J.L.

Exhibition History

1951: Audubon Paintings and Prints from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1951.

1985: Extended loan for use by Ambassador Thomas Michael Tulliver Niles, U.S. Embassy residence, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 1985-1989.

Technical Summary

The painting has been lined and windows have been cut into the lining fabric to reveal inscriptions in ink on the reverse. No cusping is visible along the cut fabric edges. A warm, off-white ground layer of moderate thickness was applied over the plain-weave fabric support. Where original paint is visible, it was applied in short refined brushstrokes, with fine applications of thin paint used to indicate the texture of the animals' fur. However, a great deal of the surface is covered with overpaint. Many of the grass stalks are inventions of a restorer, and the sky and back of the weasel on the left are almost completely overpainted. Beneath the overpaint are numerous unfilled losses in the original paint. A large vertical tear, one-third of the way in from the left edge, runs almost from top to bottom. The painting's condition is extremely poor. The thick varnish has become somewhat discolored.

Bibliography

1970: American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 12, repro.

1980: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 21, repro.

1988: Ford, Alice. John James Audubon: A Biography. New York, 1988: 216.

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: 16-18, repro.