Birds in Art comprises sixty original contemporary works by sixty painters and sculptors hailing from Australia, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, and the United States.
The exhibition is organized annually by the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, Wisconsin, and provides a wonderful comparison to bird art by Mark Catesby (published 1731), Alexander Wilson (published 1808–1814), and John James Audubon (published 1840–1844) in the concurrent exhibition Birds of the Smokies.
Given the number of bird species found around the world and the widely diverse habitats in which they thrive or struggle, artists who look to the avian world for subject matter find the possible artistic interpretations almost infinite. Whether works in the exhibition are portraits, seascapes, or landscapes, painted realistically, whimsically, or trompe l’oeil, or give rise to humor, nostalgia, or introspection, Birds in Art transports, entertains, educates, and stimulates.
- Upsteam, 2007, Acrylic on Canvas, Cathy Gazda.
- Portrait of a Harpy Eagle, 2007, Bronze, Hélène Arfi.
- Bottoms Up Duck, 2008, Bronze, Tim Cherry.]