Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait

Mrs. George Arden, New York

Christie's, New York, 22 May 1991, lot 138 (consigned by the above)

Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Blue Mountain Lake, New York, Adirondack Museum, A. F. Tait: Artist in the Adirondacks, 1974, no. 45, p. 65, illustrated

Easton, Pennsylvania, Lafayette College, Morris R. Williams Center for the Arts, Nineteenth Century American Paintings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. George J. Arden, 1983, illustrated (on the cover)

Warder H. Cadbury and Henry F. Marsh, Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait: Artist in the Adirondacks, Newark, Delaware, 1986, no. 99.31, p. 311, illustrated

Carrying a deep affinity for animals all his life, Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait first achieved renown for his spirited outdoor recreation scenes inspired by his vacations in the Adirondacks. After the sale of his Adirondack house in 1882, however, Tait began to transition away from his adventurous compositions of hunters and animals in the open wilderness and toward more domestic subjects of livestock in rural settings.

In the present work, he depicts quaint farm animals in vibrant hues, juxtaposing the deep blue of the peacock and spirited red of the fowls’ combs with the more muted colors of the pastoral background. As described by the Adirondack Museum’s 1974 exhibition catalogue, “Tait never exceeded the vitality imparted by color in this painting” (Exh. Cat., Blue Mountain Lake, New York, Adirondack Museum, A. F. Tait: Artist in the Adirondacks, 1974, p. 65).