Images(2)

Sabine Wildlife Refuge, Mallards

Date1954-1955

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensions20 1/8 × 24 inches (51.1 × 61 cm)
Frame: 25 1/4 × 29 1/4 × 2 1/2 inches (64.1 × 74.3 × 6.4 cm)

Credit LineBequest of Nelda C. Stark, 1999

Object number2010.7.9

ClassificationsPaintings

Label TextMonahan used orange as accent points in this painting. He tinged the saltmeadow cordgrass in the wetlands with orange coloring. He depicted the flying mallards to show their bright orange feet. In mallards, the color of their feet intensifies in mating season to appeal to potential partners. Orange attracts. Monahan’s painting is in a genre, or category, of sporting art. These works of art usually combine landscape and animals and often commemorate activities such as a hunting trip. The mallard’s orange feet also attract the eye of the hunter. The Sabine Wildlife Refuge in nearby Louisiana permits hunting with regulations.

ProvenanceHugh Monahan; purchased April 8, 1955 by H.J. Lutcher Stark [1887-1965]; by inheritance to his wife Nelda C. Stark [1909-1999]; bequeathed December 13, 1999 to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation; accessioned December 31, 2010 to the Stark Museum of Art

On View

On view