John James Audubon (attributed to)
French-American, 1785-1851
Miss Audubon, circa 1820
Oil on canvas
Friends of Audubon State Park Collection, JJA.L.2016.1.1
This is a post-mortem painting of a little girl believed to be Lucy Audubon, John James and Lucy Audubon’s daughter who died in 1817. The image shows a forward-facing girl in a white, off the shoulder dress and red sash around her bust. Her sleeves are trimmed in the same colored red fabric as the sash. The sash is spread-out to her right side. She is also wearing a pearl necklace and is holding white, blue, and pink garden flowers in her left arm. The little girl has curly light brown hair and blue eyes. Shown in the background to the left is a tall column, perhaps a tree with autumnal colored foliage, against a dark gray sky. In the lower right corner there appears to be a tree-lined road with a human figure. The painting is in a wood frame with gold gild and decorative floral elements, including acanthus leaves. A paper label accompanies the painting. It reads, “This portrait is the only known picture of the artist’s daughter who died at an early age.”
Miss Audubon is featured in the July 2020 post, “Recent Research: Original Paintings by John James Audubon in the Museum Collection,” on the Friends of Audubon blog.
Where can you view this object? As of the writing of this post, the portrait is held in storage at the Audubon Museum.
Questions? Contact museum curator Heidi Taylor-Caudill at 502-782-9716 or [email protected].
