Inspection c. 1950

This print of a chicken inspecting the ground was made by Bernard Joseph Steffen. I imagine him carefully positioning the bird, with its long feathery tail, centrally in the frame. There’s something kind of funny about the image. It’s like the chicken is performing a little dance, a jerky movement. What is it looking for? Maybe some juicy worms! I wonder what Steffen was thinking when he made it. Was he trying to capture a specific moment, or was he more interested in the overall impression of the bird's body? You can see the textures he creates using lithography. Steffen uses lots of tiny marks, almost like he is building up the image bit by bit. It reminds me of the way folk artists tell stories through images. I love how the colours are quite muted, except for the bright yellow of the chicken's feet. You can see how artists are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas, inspiring one another’s creativity.