Ruddy Duck

Artist John James Audubon (American, 1785 - 1851)

Lithographer John T. Bowen (American, 1801 - 1856)

Datec. 1839

Mediumlithograph on white wove paper, hand-colored

DimensionsOctavo: 10 3/4 × 6 15/16 inches (27.3 × 17.6 cm)

Credit LineBequest of H.J. Lutcher Stark, 1965

Object number11.1.7.173

ClassificationsPrints

Label Text“Look at this plate, Reader, and tell me whether you ever saw a greater difference between young and old, or between male and female, than is apparent here.” With these words, Audubon began his essay on the Ruddy Duck. He called attention to the male, on the left, whose plumage was “expressly for the purpose of pleasing the female.” He placed the image of the female on the far right. He originally drew it from a specimen shot when he travelled by boat to Louisiana. In the center of the group, Audubon portrayed two young Ruddy Ducks.

ProvenancePurchased September 11, 1957 through (Nada Kramar, Washington, D.C.) by H.J. Lutcher Stark [1887-1965]; bequeathed September 2, 1965 to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation; accessioned to the Stark Museum of Art

On View

Not on view