|
I hadn’t
intended to write two
columns in a row about
activities at the Folger Shakespeare Library,
but when Colleen
Kennedy, Senior
Communications Manager
at the Folger, who
facilitated last
month’s interview about Imagining Shakespeare, offered me the opportunity to ask artist Missy Dunaway about her work creating illustrations of all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare’s writing, I couldn’t say no. As a birder, lover of Shakespeare, and fan of the Folger, this was an opportunity too good to pass up.
Shakespeare refers to a total of 65 bird species in his plays and
poems. Dunaway has determined to create illustrations for each
of them, accompanied by essays exploring each bird’s folklore
and literary significance.” (1)
For example, the Greylag Goose, the most common wild goose in
Europe. Though never mentioned by its species name,
“According to scholars, Shakespeare’s goose is the greylag goose,
the most common wild and domestic breed found in the British
Isles.
1 The greylag goose likely got its name because it is a year
-round resident that ‘lagged behind’ other species that departed
for breeding. Nearly all western domesticated geese descend
from the greylag goose.” (2) Shakespeare mentions it in at least
three plays, Romeo and Juliet, Henry the Sixth, Part I, and Hamlet.
A bird that should be familiar to everyone reading this, the
Common Starling (known in North America as the European
Starling, an invasive species that has become ubiquitous), appears
just once in Shakespeare’s work, but it’s highly significant.
“In Henry IV, Part 1, Henry Hotspur fantasizes about training a
starling to repeat ‘Mortimer’ to goad King Henry IV into
ransoming his brother-in-law. This reference implies that the
starling is a brainless bird that mindlessly mimics speech.” (3)
This characterization, of course, wildly understates the
intelligence and linguistic facility of said bird.
Like the starling, the Peregrine Falcon should be well known to
many readers (as well as being one my favorites). This species is
symbolic of the success of conservation efforts, including the
banning of DDT, that bought it back from the brink of extinction.
“Shakespeare peppers falconry terminology throughout his
dialogue, similar to how a baseball lover uses the phrases ‘home
run,’ ‘out of the park,’ and ‘swing for the fences’ in everyday
conversation.” Anyone who has ever witnessed the
Peregrine—the fastest animal on the planet—soaring and diving
for prey will understand why.
Take a look at all of Dunaway’s blogs about her attempts to
capture Shakespeare’s birds, with their accompanying
illustrations.
As an avid birdwatcher myself, I had a couple of my own
questions for the artist and she graciously agreed to respond.
Were you a birder before you started painting birds?
Have you done other bird or nature art besides your
current project?
I have always loved and admired birds. I’ve dabbled in
birdwatching for years and kept a casual list of species I’ve
identified. Still, I hesitate to call myself a “birder.” My friends
who earn that title spend a lot of time outdoors in search of new
species. My free time is quite limited, so you will usually find me
painting rather than birdwatching.
I did a wonderfully immersive nature-based art residency at the
Taft-Nicholson Center in Montana in 2015. I learned to tie flies
and painted native fish species, including the arctic grayling and
westslope cutthroat trout. The center sits beside the Red Rock
Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, where an avian ecologist kindly
let me accompany him as he canoed through wetlands to locate
lesser scaup nests. I also got to participate in a banding drive,
which was a lot of fun.
Besides Audubon, who would you consider the best
artists of birds?
There are so many gifted artists and illustrators who depict birds,
it’s hard to choose. In the Folger Shakespeare Library’s Readers
Room, I had the thrill of flipping through a first edition of Ulisse
Aldrovandi’s bird illustrations created between 1599-1603.
Aldrovandi was an Italian naturalist whose work later influenced
Francis Willughby and shaped early scientific approaches to
observing birds. For a contemporary choice, Walton Ford is
probably my favorite. His illustrations of birds and animals have
layers of symbolism and narratives that are strange and thought
-provoking. There’s always a lot to appreciate and observe in his
work.
I’m very grateful to Dunaway for her answers and to Colleen at
the Folger for facilitating.
You can find samples of Dunaway’s art on her website. Her
Shakespeare illustrations are no longer on view but can all be
seen on the Folger’s website.
Notes
(1) https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and
-beyond/painting-the-birds-of-shakespeare/
(2) https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/birds
-of-shakespeare-greylag-goose/
(3) https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/birds
-of-shakespeare-the-common-starling/
(4) https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and
-beyond/birds-of-shakespeare-peregrine-falcon/
|
