Indigo Bunting

Barbara Bosworth, Indigo Bunting, 2003, chromogenic print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Haluk and Elisa Soykan, 2008.2.22, © 2003, Barbara Bosworth
Copied Barbara Bosworth, Indigo Bunting, 2003, chromogenic print, 18 1423 14 in. (46.459.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Haluk and Elisa Soykan, 2008.2.22, © 2003, Barbara Bosworth

Artwork Details

Title
Indigo Bunting
Date
2003
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
18 1423 14 in. (46.459.1 cm)
Copyright
© 2003, Barbara Bosworth
Credit Line
Gift of Haluk and Elisa Soykan
Mediums Description
chromogenic print
Classifications
Keywords
  • Animal — bird — cardinal
Object Number
2008.2.22

Artwork Description

Barbara Bosworth’s photographs of bird banders honors the gestures of ordinary people who capture and release songbirds to study their migratory patterns. In these rare moments of physical contact, they sense the quick pulse of these delicate creatures, poised to take flight the instant they are released. Bosworth discovered gestures in Renaissance paintings by Fra Angelico and Lorenzo Veneziano that resembled her own images: “I was amazed by a painting of a saint with his arms extended, releasing a bird towards heaven. It reminded me of the motion made when these captive birds are set free.”


The Singing & the Silence: Birds in Contemporary Art, 2014