Albany's Historic Whaling Station > Records

PAINTING - COMMON DOPLHIN

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Richard Ellis

c. 1975

Subcollections

Overview

Painting of patterned dolphin with dark grey/black upper body, white underbelly, and yellow, buff, and grey flank, a long, pointed beak, and tall, triangular dorsal fin, gouache on blue card, framed and mounted with inscription (16.)

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-RE1999.352

Item type

Artworks

Themes

Art and Design

Nature

Material

Card

Gouache

Metal

Paper

Perspex

Width

410 mm

Height or length

440 mm

Depth

15 mm

Weight

1.52 kg

Inscriptions and markings

COMMON DOLPHIN (Delphinus delphis)

While the bottlenose is the most well-known dolphin, Delphinus is smaller, with a much longer snout. It is brightly colored, with a complex pattern of stripes and patches. Reaching a length of 8 feet, this dolphin is renowned for its bow-riding and leaping activities, but is generally considered too delicate to do well in captivity.
16.

Verso: Smithsonian label checklist # 16 Packing case # 3, 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

Albany's Historic Whaling Station

Smithsonian Institution

Marine Mammals

Place made

United States

Year

c. 1975