Osprey and Weakfish

1829

John James Audubon

Painter, American, 1785 - 1851

A bird in flight with its hooked beak wide open, wings held high, holds a shimmering green and white fish in its talons in this vertical painting. The bird and fish fill the composition against a pale, hazy landscape. Both animals face our left in profile. The bird’s raised wings are dark brown, and the feathers on the underside of its left wing, closer to us, are cream white. Its tail is fanned and the feathers are striped with golden yellow against dark brown. The bird surges forward, to our left, its head low. The yellow eye we see is round and clear, and its dark beak curves to a sharp point over its protruding tongue. The head is striped with cream and brown, creating a mask-like effect. Powerful talons grip the fish, whose tail still dips in the water below. The fish’s mouth gapes and its eye, which is yellow around a black iris, is wide open in the gray and silver head. The top of the fish’s body is iridescent emerald green that fades to tan and parchment yellow along its belly. Light and dark speckles create a dotted pattern along the fish’s length. The body of water meets the horizon about a quarter of the way up the composition. The surface of the water is painted in sage green, golden tan, and pale pink. Cliffs in the distance are soft mauve purple under an aqua-blue sky filled with billowing clouds. White birds with black wingtips fly over the water in the distance.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas on hardboard

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Richard M. Scaife

  • Dimensions

    overall: 101.6 x 66.7 cm (40 x 26 1/4 in.)
    framed: 127.32 x 94.62 x 8.26 cm (50 1/8 x 37 1/4 x 3 1/4 in.)

  • Accession

    2005.32.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist [1785-1851]; bequest 1851 to his widow, Lucy Bakewell Audubon [1788-1874]; sold 1863 to Miss Mary D. Bates, Ipswich, Massachusetts, until at least 1894.[1] New England Museum of Natural History, Boston [acquisition #9299; now the Museum of Science]; deposited 24 July 1942 with the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[2] Dr. Thomas Barbour [1884-1946], Boston and Cambridge;[3] bequest 1946 to his daughter, Julia Adelaide Barbour [later Mrs. Samuel H. Hallowell], Beverly Farms, Massachusetts; sold 1973 through (Vose Galleries, Boston) to Dr. William J. Hlavin, Boston and Fair Lawn, Ohio;[4] sold 2005 through (Apollo-Pierce Galleries, Palm Beach) to Richard Mellon Scaife [1932-2014], Pittsburgh; gift 2005 to NGA.
[1] The painting was lent by Miss Bates to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, from June 1879 to May 1894 (see the label on the reverse of the painting, and copies of relevant documents in NGA curatorial files).
[2] See the label on the reverse of the painting. The museum's donation records, which do not appear to indicate when the painting was actually acquired, or from whom, list the painting as being deposited at Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology on 24 July 1942 (the entry is dated 1943; copy in NGA curatorial files).
[3] Dr. Barbour was twice President of the Boston Society of Natural History (the parent organization of the New England Museum of Natural History), from 1925 to 1927 and from 1940 to 1945, and director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology from 1927.
[4] The painting was on consignment with the Richard York Gallery, New York, in 1997 (see Richard York Gallery, An American Gallery, Volume VIII, New York, 1997: no. 4, repro.). A Richard York Gallery label on the reverse of the painting includes the number 4823CY.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1974

  • John James Audubon: a name that became a symbol, The Museum of Science, Miami, February-March 1974, no. 1, cover repro.

  • Original Oil Paintings, Watercolors and Publications by John James Audubon, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, April-June 1974, no cat. (listed under Case L in typewritten checklist).

1978

  • Birds in American Art, Heritage Plantation of Sandwich, Massachusetts, 1978, no. 86, cover repro.

1994

  • The Shorebirds of John James Audubon, Vose Galleries, Boston, 1994.

  • John James Audubon: Artistry and Enterprise, National Wildlife Art Museum, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1994-1995, no cat.

2005

  • Audubon's Dream Realized: Selections from "The Birds of America", National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2005-2006, no cat.

2014

  • John James Audubon and the Artist as Naturalist, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2014-2015, no catalogue.

  • Peindre l'Amerique. Les artistes du Nouveau Monde 1830-1900, Fondation de l'Hermitage, Lausanne, 2014, no. 3, repro.

Bibliography

1974

  • Smith, Griffin. "The Real Audubon." The Miami Herald (17 February 1974): 10-G, repro.

1987

  • Vose Galleries of Boston, Inc. Vose Galleries of Boston, Inc.: A Commemorative Catalogue. Boston, 1987: repro. 44.

2003

  • Apollo, Marco, and Pierce, Patricia Jobe. Art Collecting and Investing - the Inner Workings & the Underbelly of the Art World. 2003: 23-24, pl. 1.

Wikidata ID

Q20185660

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