Albany's Historic Whaling Station > Records

PAINTING - SOUTHERN FUR SEAL

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Richard Ellis

c. 1975

Subcollections

Overview

Painting of two brown seals, the largest (male bull seal) has fur on the upper half, gouache on blue card, framed and mounted with inscription (82).

Historical information

Collection of 106 of paintings by Richard Ellis that were selected by the Smithsonian Institution to form a traveling exhibit of the marine mammals of the world. The collection was purchased by Perth businessman Kevin Parry in 1985 and donated to Whale World, now known as Albany's Historic Whaling Station.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-128-RE1999.311

Item type

Material

Width

410 mm

Height or length

440 mm

Depth

15 mm

Inscriptions and markings

Southern Fur Seal (Arctocephalus australis)
Eight species are included in the Arctocephalus ("bear-headed" genus, all but one of them - the Guadalupe fur seal - are found south of the equator. All southern fur seals have a sharply pointed snout and dense underfur, but there is no clear distinction between sea lions and fur seals. The various species of Arctocephalus can be found in the southern hemisphere island groups such as the Kerguelens, the Falklands, Juan Fernandez and also South Australia, South Africa , and both coasts of southern South America.

Verso: Smithsonian label checklist # 82 Packing case # 5, AWHS accession number

Contextual information

The paintings represent a body of work by well-known American marine conservationist, author, artist and natural historian Richard Ellis (1938-2024).

Keywords

Richard Ellis

Smithsonian Institution

Albany's Historic Whaling Station

Marine Mammals

Place made

United States

Year

c. 1975

Statement of significance

Rarity:106 of these paintings were selected by the Smithsonian Institution to form a traveling exhibit of the marine mammals of the world. All these paintings were bought by Kevin Parry and donated to Whale World

Primary significance criteria

Artistic or aesthetic significance

Scientific or research significance

Comparative significance criteria

Object’s condition or completeness

Rare or representative

Well provenanced

Last modified

Wednesday, 15 October, 2025

Completeness

100

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