Miss Audubon

Painting

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Kentucky State Parks

Portrait of Lucy Audubon, first-born daughter of John James and Lucy Audubon, who died as a young child in 1817 in Henderson, Kentucky.: A portrait painting of a young girl shown seated facing the viewer and holding a bouquet of red, white, and blue flowers in her left arm. She wears a white dress with a red sash and a pearl necklace. The girl has blue eyes and curly, light-brown hair parted in the middle. She gazes at the viewer with a small smile. In the background to the left is a tall column against a blue-gray sky. In the lower right corner there appears to be a human figure on a tree-lined road. The painting is displayed in a gold-colored frame with decorations of leaves and flowers.
Portrait of Lucy Audubon, first-born daughter of John James and Lucy Audubon, who died as a young child in 1817 in Henderson, Kentucky.

A portrait painting of a young girl shown seated facing the viewer and holding a bouquet of red, white, and blue flowers in her left arm. She wears a white dress with a red sash and a pearl necklace. The girl has blue eyes and curly, light-brown hair parted in the middle. She gazes at the viewer with a small smile. In the background to the left is a tall column against a blue-gray sky. In the lower right corner there appears to be a human figure on a tree-lined road. The painting is displayed in a gold-colored frame with decorations of leaves and flowers.

Name/Title

Miss Audubon

Entry/Object ID

JJA.L.2016.1.1

Description

This is a post-mortem portrait painting of a young girl believed to be Lucy Audubon (1815-1817), John James (1785-1851) and Lucy Bakewell Audubon's (1787-1874) first-born daughter. Titled "Miss Audubon," the portrait is attributed to John James Audubon and is thought to be the only known image of the child. The image shows a forward-facing girl wearing a white, off-the-shoulder dress with a red sash around her bust. The sleeves are trimmed in the same red fabric as the sash. The sash is spread out to her right side. She is also wearing a pearl necklace and holding white, blue, and red garden flowers in her left arm. The girl has curly light-brown (perhaps auburn) colored hair and blue eyes. She gazes at the viewer with a small smile. Shown in the background to the viewer's left is a tall column - perhaps a tree with autumnal-colored foliage - against a dark blue-gray sky. In the lower right corner there appears to be a tree-lined road with a human figure. The painting is housed in a wood frame with gold gild and decorative floral elements including acanthus leaves. A paper label on the back of the frame reads, "According to the catalogue of the John J. Audubon exhibition at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (1938): “This portrait is the only known picture of the artist’s daughter who died at an early age.” Lent by Mrs. Howard Maxwell, Jr., New York."

Artwork Details

Medium

Canvas, Oil

Subject

Portrait

Subject Person or Organization

Audubon, Lucy, 1815-1817

Collection

Friends of Audubon State Park Collection

Made/Created

Artist Information

Artist

John James Audubon, 1785-1851

Attribution

Attributed to

Role

Artist

Date made

circa 1820 - circa 1820

Time Period

19th Century

Dimensions

Height

25-1/2 in

Width

24-3/8 in

Depth

2-1/4 in