Hooping Crane (Sandhill Crane), John James Audubon, Size: N/A, Year: N/A, Museum: MONA
The artwork Hooping Crane (Sandhill Crane) depicts a very large artwork of a sandhill crane, standing on a hillside, overlooking a vast arrangement of lakes, ponds and in the background, a mountain range along with other cranes that are standing along the water or flying. The artist uses a blend of dark colors as well as light colors. The dark coloring he uses on portions of the cranes body, such as on the back, the red part around the eye, the legs and feet. The light coloring he uses for the water, the light blue sky, the other cranes, some parts of the body such as part of the wing and neck and the mountain range in the background. He also uses shading, such as around the edge of the hillside surrounding the crane, maybe to depict a shadow of the crane or to make the crane stick out better.
The meaning or purpose of this artwork is to show just how majestic these birds really are. Their coloring, they way they look, their features, especially with the red eye patch and their lengthy legs and neck. The artwork shows the migrations of sandhill cranes in a way because cranes will migrate through mountain ranges and will stop along lakes or ponds and rivers and they use a wide range of corridors every year on their migration north and south. This picture pertains to my social issue of economy because not only is sandhill crane hunting legal in certain states and provide revenue or money to those states through hunting licenses, gas, hotels, food, but also through tourism. People travel far and wide to see sandhill cranes, such as right here in Kearney, NE, so it boosts our economy in a way through revenue and money as well.
This artwork can help change or influence people’s perceptions because many people just think of them as a “bird” but they are really more than that, they are a highly regarded species of bird that many people see as majestic and beautiful. “His father was always careful to direct his attention to rare flowers and beautiful birds, pointing out the variegated plumage of the latter, and speaking to him of their instincts, their mode of life, migrations and desire to preserve the beautiful appearances thus presented to him”.
Title: John James Audubon, The Naturalist
Author (s): N/A
Source: JSTOR: The Illustrated Magazine of Art, Vol. 3, No. 17 (1854), pp.305-307.
