Artwork
Ostriches in the Desert
Ostriches in the Desert is an ink print by the Impressionist artist François-Nicolas Auguste Feyen-Perrin. It dates from 1872 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
François‑Nicolas Auguste Feyen‑Perrin’s print, titled Ostriches in the Desert and dated 1872, depicts a small group of ostriches traversing a barren, sandy plain. Executed as an etching combined with dry‑point on laid paper, the work measures roughly a modest size typical of 19th‑century prints and presents a stark, open landscape punctuated only by distant vegetation.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on three ostriches moving in a line across an unbroken expanse of sand, their silhouettes rendered in bold, gestural strokes. The minimal background, reduced to faint, wavering lines suggesting wind‑driven dunes or rippling water, emphasizes the isolation of the birds and evokes a sense of quiet endurance within an inhospitable environment.
Technique & Style
By incising fine, burr‑laden lines into a copper plate, he produced a web‑like grain that imitates the granular surface of sand.
Feyen‑Perrin employed dry‑point alongside traditional etching to achieve the print’s delicate textural effects. By incising fine, burr‑laden lines into a copper plate, he produced a web‑like grain that imitates the granular surface of sand. The overall drawing style remains loose and sketch‑like, with strong, dark outlines contrasting against the light tone of the laid paper, reinforcing the immediacy of the scene.
History & Provenance
Created in the early 1870s, the print reflects the period’s growing fascination with exotic fauna and distant landscapes. While specific ownership records are scarce, the work has appeared in several catalogues of Feyen‑Perrin’s oeuvre and is held in public collections that specialize in 19th‑century French printmaking, confirming its place within the artist’s broader print series.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
François-Nicolas Auguste Feyen-Perrin
François-Nicolas Auguste Feyen-Perrin (1872–1872) was an artist.
A Camel
Les Petits Anes de Luchon
Head of a Camel
Les Anes de La Butte-aux-Cailles (Donkeys at La Butte-aux-Cailles)
The Donkeys at the Hill of the Cailles
Camel and Arabs
Untitled
Coastal View (A Foreboding of Sadness)
Camel Caravan
On the Road from Smyrna to Brussa
Wagon Going to Town (Le Charriot allant a la ville)- Oasis in the Desert