From the Artist
I believe that in every one of us lives a child, and my paintings are about what that child loves and accepts. In my works, I talk to him in the language he and I can understand. Even the size of my works—it's memories of childhood, where all the important things in life can fit in a pocket or under a pillow, so that you don’t have to part with them even for a minute.
—From Brandywine Workshop and Archives records
The Bird shows a landscape and a collection of symbols relating both to Russian folklore and to American idealism. Some of the imagery references early American painting in style and subject—in this case, a hunting scene. The bird in the center of the print symbolizes the bluebird of happiness, which is a Russian folkloric icon. The figures in the scene are drawn from Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s writings and narrate a story on the complexities and difficulties that come into play when in pursuit of the utopian ideals of the American dream. American landscape painter Frederic Church looks down on the scene from the sky.
—From Brandywine Workshop and Archives records
