1828
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Dominant colour
Orchard Oriole is a 1828 ink by Robert Havell Jr., a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This picture shows five bright birds perched on branches and leaves. One bird is red with black wings, another is yellow with black stripes, and a nest sits in the middle of the tree. The background is plain white, but the birds and plants stand out in sharp colors. The artist labeled each bird with tiny notes—like "male" and "female"—to help identify them. The whole scene looks carefully drawn, almost like a science book page. If you like this kind of detailed bird art, check out engraving to see how artists carved these images.
The Havell family of Reading, Berkshire, England, included a number of notable engravers, etchers and painters, as well as writers, publishers, educators, and musicians.
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