Black-Footed Ferret

Amerikanische Malerei 1835–1840, 1840/1846

A tawny brown, long-bodied ferret leaning over a grassy mound in this horizontal painting. The animal’s body creates an arch supported on its short, darker brown legs. Its thin tail is lifted and a dark brown band across its paler, cream-white face resembles a mask. The animal has short claws and compact, rounded ears. The ferret appears to investigate a small nest at the lower center of the painting. The nest is partially hidden among tufts of grass and contains four pale, speckled eggs. Grassy hills roll back to the horizon, which comes halfway up this composition, and a sheet of white clouds mostly covers the blue-gray sky above.
Artist
Amerikanische Malerei 1835–1840
Date
1840/1846
Type
Painting
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
55.5 × 68.5 cm
Collection
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Licence
Public domain, CC0

Image description

A tawny brown, long-bodied ferret leaning over a grassy mound in this horizontal painting. The animal’s body creates an arch supported on its short, darker brown legs. Its thin tail is lifted and a dark brown band across its paler, cream-white face resembles a mask. The animal has short claws and compact, rounded ears. The ferret appears to investigate a small nest at the lower center of the painting. The nest is partially hidden among tufts of grass and contains four pale, speckled eggs. Grassy hills roll back to the horizon, which comes halfway up this composition, and a sheet of white clouds mostly covers the blue-gray sky above.

Amerikanische Malerei 1835–1840