Preparing a Deer Hide

Maker John George Brown (American, 1831 - 1913)

Additional Title(s)

Scraping a Deerskin

Collections

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Date1904

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensions30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm.) frame: 43 1/4 × 37 3/4 × 5 in. (109.9 × 95.9 × 12.7 cm.)

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Purchased with funds from the Art Collectors' Council and the Virginia Steele Scott Acquisition fund for American Art

Status

On view

Label TextScraping a Deerskin demonstrates J. G. Brown's interest in the craft of painting. He rendered the weathered barn and tools in precise detail and created a balanced geometric composition based on the vertical and horizontal components of the barn and the diagonal wood beam that supports the deer hide as the tanner scrapes it clean of hair and debris, a process known as "scudding." The light-filled landscape visible through the open barn window reflects the influence of the impressionistic style popular in the United States and Europe at this time.

Executed late in his life, Scraping a Deerskin is part of a series of paintings Brown created of old men working in traditional handicrafts. The tanner appears to be a self-portrait of Brown, suggesting that the artist strongly identified with his subject.

Object number2008.3