Preparing a Deer Hide

Scraping a Deerskin demonstrates J. G. Brown's interest in the craft of painting. He rendered the weathered barn and tools in precise detail and created a balanced geometric composition based on the vertical and horizontal components of the barn and the diagonal wood beam that supports the deer hide as the tanner scrapes it clean of hair and debris, a process known as "scudding." The light-filled landscape visible through the open barn window reflects the influence of the impressionistic style popular in the United States and Europe at this time.

Executed late in his life, Scraping a Deerskin is part of a series of paintings Brown created of old men working in traditional handicrafts. The tanner appears to be a self-portrait of Brown, suggesting that the artist strongly identified with his subject.