Colonel Abert's Squirrel
Artist
John Woodhouse Audubon
(American, 1812 - 1862)
CultureAmerican
Dateca. 1852
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions18 1/2 × 14 1/2 in. (47 × 36.8 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Object number2022.23
Collections
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 211
Label TextJohn Woodhouse Audubon American, 1812–1862 Colonel Abert’s Squirrel, ca. 1852 Oil on canvas In spite of its cute appearance, this detailed and charming depiction of a squirrel formed part of one of the most serious pursuits of American art in the nineteenth century: to observe, record, and classify the natural world. John Woodhouse Audubon was the son of the United States’ most famous naturalist, John James Audubon, and from a young age assisted his father in his scientific and artistic endeavors. After completing the encyclopedic Birds of America, father and son worked together to produce another massive print project, The Vivaporous Quadrupeds of North America. The younger Audubon created oil paintings of nearly 150 different mammal specimens, like this species of squirrel found across the western United States. Museum purchase 2022.23 ProvenanceKnoedier Art Galleries, New York, before 1951 to Anonymous dealer to Thomas Colville Fine Art to CMA.Published ReferencesAlice Ford, ed., Audubon’s Animals: The Quadrupeds of North America (New York: Studio Publications & Thomas Y. Crowley, 1951), 191, 214, 216, fig. 153 J. J. Audubon & J. Bachmann, The Quadrupeds of North America, Vol. 3 (1854), royal octavo edition, plate CLIII
