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Man Displaying Birds
Jean Honoré Fragonard French
Not on view
A man with a faraway expression sits on a rock, holding a curved rod atop which two small birds perch. His bare arms and torso suggest a hot climate. Presumably Fragonard made the study on his second trip to Italy in 1773–74, during which he was entranced with the colorful figures he encountered on the streets: peasants, fisherman, and barefoot children. He drew most of those studies in red chalk or brown wash; this sheet is atypical in its use of black chalk.
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