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Brazilian Hummingbirds (Heliactin Cornuta)
Martin Johnson Heade (American, 1819–1904)
1864
Medium/Technique
Chromolithograph on paper
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Russel W. Baker
Accession Number1970.328
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPrints
Catalogue Raisonné
See Karolik Cat. 354
DescriptionBirds on forked branch with hanging moss, the male above, with horns, leaning towards his mate. Proof for "Gems of Brazil." "Gems of Brazil" was the title given to twelve pictures, first exhibited by Heade in Rio de Janeiro in 1864, representing part of the twenty paintings intended to be chromolithographed and published in London, the work dedicated to Dom Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil. Apparently, only a few proofs were made, unsatisfactory to the artist, and the project was abandoned. Robert G. McIntyre in Martin Johnson Heade, N.Y., 1948, lists only six impressions of the chromos. This is the proof for 60.1068.
ProvenanceGift of Russell W. Baker, Brookline MA to MFA April 8, 1970