I like the idea of the fancy cockatoo being the more important subject of the painting, like "oh hey, who's that Gustave is hanging out with?" "idk, some woman at a piano" "well, lucky her"
The artist worked out of Belgium and France, so this is almost certainly a cockatoo that was either taken from the wild or hatched locally. Most people didn't care much about protecting wildlife back then.
Back then, cool-looking wildlife was often exported worldwide for the amusement of bored rich people. And a large, unusual-looking parrot from the other side of the globe would have made a desirable conversation piece.
6 Comments
Jiggs@lemm.ee · 6 pts · 2y
I thought to myself, "What a fancy cockatoo, to have such a long name"
Zombiepirate@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 2y
Gustave would be a good name for a parrot.
edgemaster72@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 2y
I like the idea of the fancy cockatoo being the more important subject of the painting, like "oh hey, who's that Gustave is hanging out with?" "idk, some woman at a piano" "well, lucky her"
makingStuffForFun@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 2y
Was this painted in Australia, or maybe the bird was smuggled into another country. Maybe back then you could just take wildlife? Interesting
Zombiepirate@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2y
The artist worked out of Belgium and France, so this is almost certainly a cockatoo that was either taken from the wild or hatched locally. Most people didn't care much about protecting wildlife back then.
AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space · 2 pts · 2y
Back then, cool-looking wildlife was often exported worldwide for the amusement of bored rich people. And a large, unusual-looking parrot from the other side of the globe would have made a desirable conversation piece.