HERE IS A CARVING OF A BIRD IN OUR COLLECTION. IT WAS IDENTIFIED by a reader as a European Great Spotted Woodpecker. I think it may be 75+ years old. This bird, painted with broad shapes and squiggles to define various areas, is more akin to modernist painting than it’s more realistically painted counterparts of the day. When I see this bird, I think of modernist painters like Arthur Dove (no pun intended), Georgia O’Keefee and others.
Thanks to reader Harry, for the ID.
