A Flight Of Birds

The use of birds as a theme in artwork is as universal as the human desire to look up into the sky. Birds embody such concepts as lifting up above what weighs us down, freedom of thoughts and ideas, and even the exhilaration of the act of flying, something that people have aspired towards ever since the Wright Brothers proved it was possible. This impulse is reflected all around us, in popular culture as song lyrics, as fashion prints, as feathered costumes and haute-couture, in advertising where a famous caffeinated beverage promises it “gives you wings”, and as a theme in some of history’s most compelling literature. Artists across all time periods have relied on imagery of birds to carry messages of hope, of peace, of love, of political communication, of shifting half-discernable musings of human emotion, or of epiphanies of experience only relatable through visual expression. Whether with humor or grace, silence or fanfare, birds seem to have the ability to convey deeper meanings than simply what meets the eye.

Georges Braque has an extensive repertoire of work involving birds, a subject he revisited over and over again, and a regular player in his toolbox. Looking through his oeuvre reveals frequent exploration with abstracted or semi-abstracted bird forms, always lyrical utterances that say a lot with a little. These two pieces Oiseaux Noir and Les Oiseaux IV are stone lithographs from 1960 and 1959 editions of Derriere le Miroir, powerful in their simplicity.

Ben Shahn often made persuasive use of animal imagery to translate his rich, complex and distinctive narratives. His work somehow never fails to relate common truths about humanity, his humorous lines and dark, energetic scratchwork feeling particularly resonant. Even in this poster for the Printmaking Council of New Jersey advertising the opening of a new resource center, many themes begin to arise.