Hummingbird and Passionflowers
Martin Johnson Heade American
Heade began painting hummingbirds as early as 1862, but the majority of his compositions date between 1875 and 1885, after his final trip to South America. The particular species of hummingbird represented here is the black-eared fairy Heliothryx aurita, whose habitat is the lowlands of the Amazon basin, as is the passionflower, or Passiflora racemosa. Heade, who was familiar with the scientific writings of Charles Darwin, has conveyed the dualities and interconnectedness between the flora and fauna in this painting.
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