Blue Bullfinch, from the Song Birds of the World series (N42) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1890

This is a chromolithograph of a ‘Blue Bullfinch’ made by Allen & Ginter as part of the "Song Birds of the World" series. The print is divided into three distinct pictorial sections: On the left, a wooden sign advertising cigarettes. In the center, the blue bird sits perched on a rock. To the right, a pastel drawing of plantlife and a birdhouse attached to a tree. Notice how each section differs in its chromatic intensity. The composition guides our eye across the surface to discern what, if anything, connects these disparate images. The answer lies perhaps in the bird itself. Represented in a vibrant color, it becomes an emblem, a signifier, for the natural world as a whole. It suggests that nature itself, like this print, is merely a collage of disconnected signs.