Study of Birds

Artist Gustave Doré (French, 1832 - 1883)

Dateca. 1868-1871

MediumWatercolor on paper

DimensionsUnframed: 17 × 11 3/4 inches (43.18 × 29.85 cm)
Framed: 25 7/8 × 21 1/4 inches (65.72 × 53.98 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust

Object number32-193/6

On View

Not on view

Collections

European Art

Terms

Exhibition History

Master Drawings from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, Washington University Gallery of Art, Saint Louis, MO, September 22-December 3, 1989, unnumbered, as Study of Birds.

Master Drawings from the Permanent Collection, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, February 17-March 25, 1990, no cat., as Study of Birds.

Animalia: 19th and 20th Century European Prints and Drawings, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, February 28-June 18, 2015, no cat., as Study of Birds.

Gallery Label

This colorful watercolor shows parrots and cockatoos on their perches. The scene is filled with animated movement and the sound of fluttering wings. These exotic birds were sketched rapidly in impressionistic fashion during Gustave Doré’s visits to the zoological gardens in London between 1868 and 1871. The watercolor remained with Doré until his death, and his studio stamp is visible at bottom right. Doré had a fondness for exotic birds and even kept pet owls, which he is known to have studied. He was also a prolific book illustrator of many of the great works of world literature including the Bible and Don Quixote.

Provenance

With Richard Owen, Paris, by September 26, 1932-December 1, 1932 [1];

Purchased from Owen, through Harold Woodbury Parsons, by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1932.

NOTES:

[1] See letter from Harold Woodbury Parsons, art advisor to NAMA, to J. C. Nichols, NAMA Trustee, September 26, 1932.

Published References

Roger Ward and Mark S. Weil, Master Drawings from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, exh. cat. (St. Louis, MO: Washington University Gallery of Art, 1989), 7, 10, 35, (repro.), as Study of Birds.

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