Duck Decoy 1937

Max Fernekes rendered this “Duck Decoy” using graphite and watercolor, capturing not just a bird, but an echo of ancient hunting rituals. The duck, a symbol of adaptability and resourcefulness, harkens back to primordial times when survival depended on understanding nature's rhythms. This humble decoy, a tool of the hunt, transcends its utilitarian purpose. Consider the ancient Egyptians, who revered waterfowl, depicting them in elaborate tomb paintings, ensuring a plentiful afterlife. Or the indigenous cultures worldwide, where duck motifs adorned ceremonial objects, embodying the spirit of the hunt. The decoy, through its form, becomes a vessel of collective memory, a tangible link to our ancestral past. This image resonates with the same primal instincts that drove our forebears, a cyclical return to essential human experiences.