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The image shows two birds on their backs. One bird has glossy black feathers with iridescent highlights, while the other is tawny with white and brown spotted undersides. The color palette includes earthy browns, tawny yellows, and hints of iridescent greens and blues. The larger tawny bird is slightly on top and to the right of the darker bird, which is to the left. In the background, there is subtle imagery of grass and foliage in muted natural tones on a brown background.
Read the visual description

The image shows two birds on their backs. One bird has glossy black feathers with iridescent highlights, while the other is tawny with white and brown spotted undersides. The color palette includes earthy browns, tawny yellows, and hints of iridescent greens and blues. The larger tawny bird is slightly on top and to the right of the darker bird, which is to the left. In the background, there is subtle imagery of grass and foliage in muted natural tones on a brown background.

National Gallery of Art · Drawing

A Starling and a Lark

William Page

Date
1863
Medium
watercolor on wove paper
Dimensions
sheet: 24.77 × 31.27 cm (9 3/4 × 12 5/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Accession number
2018.44.31
Credit line
Gift of William and Abigail Gerdts
Time span
1851 to 1875
Department
CG-W
Original NGA record Wikidata

Subjects and terms

  • American
  • bird
  • animal
  • Birds
Provenance

William and Abigail Gerdts, New York; gift to NGA, 2018

Inscription

lower left in graphite: Starling and a Lark; lower right in graphite: Wm Page 1863;

NGA object ID 131885. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.