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Albany's Historic Whaling Station > Records

PAINTING - SCAMPERDOWN WHALE

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Richard Ellis

c. 1975

Subcollections

Richard Ellis Collection

Overview

Painting of beaked grey whale with light grey belly and white lower lip, gouache on blue card, framed and mounted with inscription (70).

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

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-128-RE1999.339

Item type

Artworks

Material

Card

Gouache

Metal

Paper

Perspex

Width

410 mm

Height or length

440 mm

Depth

15 mm

Weight

1.52 kg

Inscriptions and markings

SCAMPERDOWN WHALE (Mesoplodon grayi)
The scamperdown whale was long considered an inhabitant of only southern hemisphere waters, particularly New Zealand - until one showed up in the Netherlands! This suggests that we know a little about where beaked whales die, but almost nothing about where they live.
70.

Verso: Smithsonian label checklist # 70 Packing case # 4, 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

Albany's Historic Whaling Station

Smithsonian Institution

Place made

United States

Year

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

Thursday, 16 October, 2025

Completeness

100

Copyright and Reference

Copyright and Reference

Rights category

Other

Permissions

Reproduction or publication with Albany’s Historic Whaling Station permission only.

Rights holder

Albany's Historic Whaling Station

Albany's Historic Whaling Station

Albany's Historic Whaling Station

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Painting of beaked grey whale on blue card with inscription.

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