Historic Bird Portraits

[GaleriaPetPortraits]

This thread is a series of historic bird portraits (mostly parrots!), including...
*natural history prints
*historic fine art paintings
*ancient hieroglyphs and petroglyphs

To start off, here's a painting of "The Green Parrot" by the incomparable, iconic, idol-of-many... Vincent Van Gogh, @ 1886.

Amazon. Double Yellowhead?​

 

[texsize]

to be honest it looks like someone painted a stuffed bird.

can't say I like it.
sorry.

 

[Anansi]

Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. I like it! Has a bit of a "moment caught in time" vibe going on.

 

[ChristaNL]

to be honest it looks like someone painted a stuffed bird.

He most likely did!
though he has met real live ones when he was in London:


Deze [Vincent] is in Mei 1873 overgeplaatst naar de zaak in Londen. (...) Als een echte zakenman koopt hij zich een hoge hoed, "waar men in Londen niet buiten kan," schrijft hij, en hij geniet van de dagelijkse tochten van zijn woning in de voorstad naar de zaak in Southamptonstreet in de City. Zijn eerste kosthuis is bij een paar dames, die er twee papegaaien op na houden. Het is er wel goed maar hem wat te duur.
->
(google translate)
This [Vincent] was transferred to the London shop in May 1873. (...)
As a real businessman he buys a top hat, "one can not get out in London," he writes, and he enjoys the daily journeys of his home in the suburb to the Southamptonstreet in the City .
His first boarding house is with a few ladies, who have two parrots. It is good but it is a little too expensive.


( http://www.cubra.nl/PM/vangogh.htm )

 

[SailBoat]

I agree that it is very likely a stuffed DYH Amazon. That said, it is truly one of my favorite Historical Paintings. Still no easy task, considering that most all still paintings today are created by use of photos.


When it comes to Art, it is truly left to the eye of the beholder and I fully accept others views as Art for me, truly is a love it or not reality.

 

[ChristaNL]

This one is no great beauty ...

http://collectie.boijmans.nl/images/300x450_106765.jpg

this is made by Frans Snijders ( a pupil from Pieter Brueghel de Jonge)
Het got a *lot* better later on
(did not find any more parrots though )

from: Collectie Boijmans Online | Frans Snijders

========================================

and if you ask me ...
this is more a dodo than a gorgeous B&G


https://assets.kennislink.nl/system/files/000/215/881/large/Papegaai.jpg?1495056408


Peter Paul Rubens did not do this one any favors
(may he really liked fat naked ladies beter ;P )
the only excuse is that is was added as an afterthought
(the original painting was smaller and was either altered later to fit the space it was going to be hung in or to enhance the original 'meaning')

here is the bird (part) in black and white
https://image.isu.pub/141022110847-142af2bcaefbc14115354724713de126/jpg/page_1_thumb_large.jpg


(sorry no idea how to get the pictures visable here/ for now)

 

[wrench13]

I want the Van Gogh ! How much Gail?

 

[GaleriaPetPortraits]

Yeah, Van Gogh is not for everybody, Texsize. I like his boldness and abruptness, but some find it stilted or clumsy.

Anansi, I really like it, too!

Mr. Boats... one of my pet peeves... Copy companies printing off a photo/piture on a canvas, hitting it with some varnish, and calling it a painting.

Christa, are you an art prof? Thank you for all that. I took a course or two in college, but that's it. I recall he helped inspire Fauvism, a rather brash and dramatic ramp-up to Expressionism. I like the macaw. That tree better not be toxic!

Mr. Wrench, I can sell you a printer copy of that Amazon for a dollar!

 

[ChristaNL]

No prof whatsoever, but being Dutch there was no escaping this.

(Vincent van Gogh was "ours" so he is kind of everywhere ...)

I did art as a final (highschool) maybe that helps?


I found a nice list with parrot-paintings from an special celebrational exibit in Belgium in 2014-2015
but it's not copy-paste, so I was lazy and did not put it here right away.
If you are interested I'll put it up of course


The first person that springs into (my) mind when it comes to animal-pictures is Albrecht Dürer.
I had his rhino on my wall as an adolescent - just because people were always fighting over the little schoulderhorn he put on it.
He was supposedly unreliable and waaaay to creative as an artist because that did not exsist - untill they discovered a subscpecies (@ Sumatra if I am correct) that actually sprouts those...


So: he was right!


https://artsandculture.google.com/a...116486187845312,"height":1.2375000000000005}}


whoops- sorry about that...


Anyway- he also did quite a lot of parrots, because (very strange for an artist in those days!) he bought a small green one for his wife and later got another one.


(will posts links of those later as well)

 

[ChristaNL]

Sorry- the edit does not work atm / no idea why, apologies for the Zpellink-mistakes and sloppy lay-out; I can't fix them


=


oh, btw ,the tree is supposed to be a grapevine, so I think the parrot will be okay.
Both the parrot and the grapevine where there to "explain" about Mary's virginity.
(Symbolism is really weird sometimes)


like the editing -> in this one it works, the previous one...nothing.... ;P

 

[Squeekmouse]

Here's some very pretty historical parrot paintings that I came across:

 

[Squeekmouse]

And some more!

 

[GaleriaPetPortraits]

Gee, when I least expect it, I learn something!

Fascinating, Christa. Yes, please, I'd love to see anything you want to show-and-tell us.
I was only familiar with the Durer who did the Dante stuff. Good to learn about Albrecht and his animals. I can't wait to see his parrots.
Ahhhh, a grapevine... good! Oh, for sure, when I think of grapevines and parrots, the first thing that comes to my mind is virginity! Not. lol Well, I guess it does NOW.

Squeekie, these are gorgeous. I know a little about the illustrator... John Gerard Keulemans... another Dutchman, I do believe! He worked in the mid 1800s... spectacular. Thank you for thise beautiful contributions! They're from one of th natural history books in that time period. There was a huge explosion of bird prints in those days, as travel was openning up the world and people everywhere were fascinated by wildlife from strange lands. Over my fireplace, I have a big Edward Lear toucan print that I'll share soon. After the Rb, that's the other thing I'd grab on my way out the door if my house is on fire!

 

[Rival_of_the_Rickeybird]

I have a contribution. I got curious about the bird portrait on the US dollar bill. Found this.
From Wikipedia
"The United States one-dollar bill ($1) is a denomination of United States currency. An image of the first U.S. President (1789–97), George Washington, based on a painting by Gilbert Stuart, is currently featured on the obverse (front), and the Great Seal of the United States is featured on the reverse (back). The most successful and resourceful portraitist of America's early national period, Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828) possessed enormous natural talent, which he devoted to the representation of human likeness and character, bringing his witty and irascible manner to bear on each of his works, including his incisive portraits of George Washington."
I looked for that Stuart painting of the eagle and could not find it, so I will leave you with this 1798 dollar. Now THAT's a BIRD PORTRAIT!! Portable, durable, valuable.....................................................

 

[GaleriaPetPortraits]

Here's a historic bird portrait that's anciently historic!
This statue is in Edfu, Egypt, at the temple of Horus. It depicts Horus himself. The statue dates to 300 B.C. Horus was usually depicted as a falcon or a falcon-headed man. He represented good health, protection, and royal power. Birds in general represented power, transcendence, and intelligence, and falcons in particular were admired for their speed and ability to see (metaphorically and literally).
What kind of falcon is he? Experts say there are two candidates: the Barbary Falcon and the Lanner Falcon, both of which are commonly found in Egypt.
I got all that from the Museum of Egypt site.

 

[Rival_of_the_Rickeybird]

The original ANGRY BIRD.

 

[Rozalka]

A 1793 drawing from Tonga. Under the illustration is a description: a parrot from Vava'u, all green. The blue crowned lorikeet is the only species of parrot native for Tonga but also it has other colors and the beak in the illustration is more eclectus-like. In the drawing probably is the extinct oceanic eclectus parrot, known only from bones and this illustration.

Based on Wikipedia

 

[GaleriaPetPortraits]

So interesting!

I had fun reading a few sites aboout the Oceanic.

Eclectus infectus (Oceanic Parrot)

I guess we don't really know its exact plumage. I couldn't find a colored drawing, anyway.

Thank you, Rozie!

 

[Rozalka]

So interesting!

I guess we don't really know its exact plumage. I couldn't find a colored drawing, anyway.

Becouse this is only sketch, which is signed 'all green". And this is truth, we don't know true colors of this species.

 

[GaleriaPetPortraits]

Another thing I wonder... is the "all green" a male or female, and was the opposite sex different?
I'm gonna keep looking around!