Two Cats Fighting
Artist
John James Audubon
(American, 1785 - 1851)
Date1826
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 28 x 36 1/4 in., (71.1 x 92.1 cm,)
Framed: 37 7/8 x 46 1/2 x 4 1/2 in. (96.2 x 118.1 x 11.4 cm)
Framed: 37 7/8 x 46 1/2 x 4 1/2 in. (96.2 x 118.1 x 11.4 cm)
ClassificationsPAINTINGS
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Terms
Object number70.66
Description On View
Not on viewCollections
CopyrightNo known copyright restrictions.
Label TextJohn James Audubon, America's most famous artist-naturalist, painted this work in Edinburgh over the course of two days. He was spurred, no doubt, by the potentially malodorous consequences of taking any longer than that to depict the two cats he had killed and wired into positions that formed a composition described in his diary as "two cats fighting like two devils for a dead squirrel." In executing the work, Audubon went to considerable effort to delineate the texture and color of the cats' fur. Their flying tufts of hair and the drops of blood in the foreground were rapidly painted, imparting a level of spontaneity to the work that is in keeping with the picture's subject and the circumstances under which it was painted.
Paul D. Schweizer
