Ducks c. 1870s - 1880s

Andrew Fisher Bunner made this pencil on paper work, Ducks, sometime in the late nineteenth century. It's essentially a study sheet, full of quickly rendered sketches of ducks in various poses. What is the public role of such a drawing? Was it practice for a painting? A study of natural forms for their own sake? The institutional history of art academies in Europe and the United States during this period involved long hours of observational drawing. The purpose was to train the eye and the hand and to learn how to represent three dimensions on a flat surface. These exercises were thought to provide an essential foundation for more ambitious artistic projects. The drawing would have been a display of skill within the art school system. Bunner also worked as an illustrator and etcher. So it is possible he made this drawing in preparation for a print or for mass reproduction in a periodical. Understanding its original use requires more research into Bunner’s career and the artistic conventions of his time.