Albany's Historic Whaling Station > Records

PAINTING - HARP SEAL

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Richard Ellis

c. 1975

Subcollections

Overview

Painting of two grey and brown bottled adult seals and white pup, gouache on blue card, framed and mounted with inscription (89)

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-RE1999.309

Item type

Artworks

Themes

Art and Design

Nature

Material

Card

Gouache

Metal

Paper

Perspex

Width

440 mm

Height or length

410 mm

Depth

15 mm

Weight

1.52 kg

Inscriptions and markings

Harp Seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus)
The population of harp seals, so notoriously hunted by Newfoundland sealers is not the only population of these 6-foot seals. They are also found throughout the northern hemisphere ice pack (pagophilus means 'ice lover'), from Canada to Greenland and Siberia. Harp sales are extremely aquatic, and spend much of their lives in the water, where they have developed particularly effective diving skills.
89.

Verso: Smithsonian label checklist # 89 Packing Case # 5, AHWS 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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