Untitled (Squirrels in a Chestnut Tree)

Waters began her career in 1843 as an itinerant portrait painter, but abandoned the medium in the 1850s, turning instead to photography, including ambrotypes and daguerreotypes. She returned to painting in the late 1860s, focusing on still lifes, landscapes, and animal pictures. Waters’ career was revitalized in 1876, when she exhibited Still Life—Mallard Ducks (location unknown) in the Centennial International Exhibition, America’s first major world’s fair, held in Philadelphia. The fair was said to bring "her fame. . .far beyond expectation, causing a continuous receipt of orders impossible to fill." This dynamic animal painting, which features three American red squirrels set against the foliage of an American chestnut tree, was likely painted in the aftermath of the Centennial. The work reveals Waters’ mature, naturalistic style in its careful delineation of a variety of textures—from the spiky husks of the chestnut pods to the thick, multi-colored fur of the squirrels’ tails.