The Cat

probably second half 19th century

American 19th Century

Associated Names
American 19th Century

Artist

This is a painting of a large cat's head amidst birds in a forest setting. The cat's head emerges from tall grass, and the rest of its body is not visible. Its fur is a mix of brown and black with a cream area around its nose and cheeks, and it has long white whiskers. Its ears are pricked up, and its yellow eyes are looking upwards. In the cat's mouth is a bird with blue and green feathers, a black head, and a long black beak. To the left and right of the cat are two thin trees with birds in them; on the left is a bright red bird, and on the right is a bird with teal, green, and black feathers. The trees depicted have sparse branches with a few green leaves at the top. The sky behind the cat and trees is light blue.

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Recorded as from New York City. Probably Charles Gardner, New York; his daughter, Sara Dorothea Gardner Schrader [d. 1935], and her husband, Hubert Schrader, Southampton, New York, until 1937. (Harry Stone, New York, by 1942)[1], by whom sold in 1946 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; by bequest to NGA, 1980.
[1] Katherine Geiser, granddaughter of Charles Gardner and niece of Sara Schrader, remembers that the painting hung in Mrs. Schrader's kitchen in Southampton and believes that Mrs. Schrader inherited it from her father. After Mrs. Schrader's death in 1935, the painting belonged to her husband until his death in 1937 (correspondence 1971-1982 from Mrs. Geiser and her daughter, Josephine Geiser, in NGA curatorial files. Whether collector and dealer Harry Stone acquired the painting at the auction of the contents of the Schrader house in 1937 or at a later date is not known.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1945

  • Harry Stone Collection of American Primitive Painting, New Art Circle, J. B. Neumann Gallery, New York, 1945, no. 8; special issue of Art Lover 1 (November/December 1945) as cat.

1949

  • Nine Lives: The Tale of the Cat in History and in Art, The Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration, New York, 1949, no. 118.

1951

  • American Primitive Painting: 1750-1950, Milwaukee Art Institute, 1951, no. 75.

1954

  • American Primitive Painting from the Collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Part I, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1954, no. 84.

1955

  • Paintings from St. James' Collectors, Wildenstein Gallery, New York, 1955, no. 19.

  • American Primitive Paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1955 (replaced temporarily for part of exhibition).

1958

  • American Folk Art. Part of American Art. Four Exhibitions, Brussels Universal and International Exhibition, Belgium, 1958, no. 85, 45.

1961

  • 101 Masterpieces of American Primitive Art from the Collection of E.W. and B.C. Garbisch, traveling exh. by the Amer. Federation of Arts, New York, 1961-1964, no. 63, color repro. First venue: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y.

1964

  • The Bird in Art, University of Arizona Art Gallery, Tucson, 1964-1965, no. 13.

1968

  • American Naive Painting of the 18th and 19th Centuries: 111 Masterpieces from the Collection of E.W. and B.C. Garbisch, traveling exh. by Amer. Fed. of Arts, N.Y., 1968-1970, no. 59, repro. First venue: Grand Palais, Paris.

1970

  • American Naive Painting of the 18th and 19th Centuries: Masterpieces from the Collection of E.W. and B.C. Garbisch, organized by the Amer. Fed. of Arts, N.Y., and Mainichi News., Nihobashi Mitsukoshi, Tokyo, 1970, no cat.

  • The New World 1620-1970, Chrysler Art Museum, Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1970, no. 13.

1978

  • The American Folk Art Tradition: Paintings from the Garbisch Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978.

1985

  • American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, traveling exh. by the Internaitonal Exhibitions Foundation, Washington, 1985-1987, no. 2, color repro. First venue: Musuem of American Folk Art, New York.

1988

  • La Nascita di Una Nazione: Pittori americani dalla National Gallery of Art di Washington 1730-1880, Palazzo Pepoli Campogrande, Bologna; Galleria Internazionale d'Arte Moderna di Ca'Pesaro, Venice, 1988-1989, no. 2, repro.

2010

  • American Naive Paintings from the Garbisch Collection at the National Gallery of Art, Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, Virginia, 2010, no cat.

Bibliography

1987

  • Cardinal, Roger. Primitive Painters. London, 1987: color pl. 1.

1988

  • Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 86, no. 20, color repro.

1991

  • Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 291, color repro.

1992

  • Chotner, Deborah, with contributions by Julie Aronson, Sarah D. Cash, and Laurie Weitzenkorn. American Naive Paintings. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 443-445, color repro. 444.

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 394, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20187950

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