Two Dead Kestrels 1909

Jan Mankes made this painting of two dead kestrels at an unknown date, using delicate brushstrokes and a muted palette. I can almost feel Mankes at work here. Did he find them, or were they given to him? There's a quietness to this painting, a reverence for the fragile beauty of these birds, their feathers still ruffled. It’s like he’s entering their stillness, trying to understand something about life by looking at death. Look how tenderly he paints the claws, the pattern of the feathers – each mark feels like a meditation. It reminds me of other painters, like Chardin, who found profundity in the everyday. Mankes wasn’t just painting birds; he was painting a feeling, a mood, a reflection on mortality. Painters have always looked to each other, borrowed from each other, creating a visual conversation across time. And here we are, years later, joining in.