Young Turtle

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Artist

Karl Bodmer

Birth and death dates

1809 - 1893

Artist Nationality

Swiss

Artist

Charles-Alexandre Lesueur

Title

Young Turtle

Date

February 9, 1833

Dimensions

10 5/8 × 6 1/4 in. (27 × 15.9 cm)

Medium

Watercolor and ink on paper

Institution

Joslyn Art Museum

Credit Line

Gift of the Enron Art Foundation

Accession Number

1986.49.360

Rights (i.e. copyright information)

Joslyn Art Museum

Photographer credit

Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2019

Commentary

The inscription at the bottom of this study indicates it was done at New Harmony on February 9. It has been attributed to Bodmer, although from all accounts he was at Natchez until February 6 and could not have been back in New Harmony three days later. More probably it is an illustration by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur, New Harmony's resident naturalist-artist, who may have given Prince Maximilian this drawing as an identification aid. In his journal entry for February 10, Maximilian mentions his having reviewed a list of turtle species in North America and compared it with collected specimens. Approximately fifty watercolors and drawings of American turtles by Lesueur are preserved today at the Museum of Natural History in Le Havre, France.

References in Journal

February 10, 1833

Labels:

study , New Harmony, Indiana , zoological study

Approximate Depicted Location:

New Harmony, Indiana