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Vultures on a Tree

1810–75
Not on view
Best known as an animal sculptor, Barye also made numerous finished watercolors. This is one of a series that the Havemeyer family bequeathed to the Metropolitan in 1929 and is notable as the first drawing by the artist to enter their collection.
Signs of death and decay dominate. The vultures perch on a leafless tree with their distinctive shapes outlined against a sky reddened by the setting sun. At lower right a stripped animal skull and bones testify to a recent meal. These details have been freely painted upon textured paper to create an image both expressive and naturalistic.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Vultures on a Tree
  • Artist: Antoine-Louis Barye (French, Paris 1795–1875 Paris)
  • Date: 1810–75
  • Medium: Watercolor on wove paper
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 10 11/16 x 15 1/8 in. (27.1 x 38.4cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
  • Object Number: 29.100.596
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
Theseus Fighting the Centaur Bianor, Antoine-Louis Barye French, Bronze (sand cast), French, Paris
Theseus Fighting the Centaur Bianor
Antoine-Louis Barye
modeled 1849, cast ca. 1867
Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French
Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century
Landscape with Stars, Henri-Edmond Cross (Henri-Edmond Delacroix) French, Watercolor on white wove paper
Landscape with Stars
Henri-Edmond Cross (Henri-Edmond Delacroix)
ca. 1905–1908
Tiger Devouring a Gavial (first reduction), Antoine-Louis Barye French, Bronze (sand cast), French
Tiger Devouring a Gavial (first reduction)
Antoine-Louis Barye
modeled in 1831, probably cast after 1847
Édouard Manet, Seated, Holding His Hat, Edgar Degas French, Graphite and black chalk
Édouard Manet, Seated, Holding His Hat
Edgar Degas
Sitter Edouard Manet
ca. 1868

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