Red-billed Toucan 1748

Editor: Okay, next up we have "Red-billed Toucan," a watercolor from 1748 by Aert Schouman, currently housed in the Rijksmuseum. It’s a strikingly realistic depiction of the bird, yet there’s also this kind of... dreamy, ethereal quality about the background. What stands out to you when you look at it? Art Historian: Well, instantly the toucan itself strikes me as symbolic of the exotic, the faraway lands that were just becoming known to Europe in the 18th century. Do you notice how Schouman focuses our attention almost entirely on the bird itself? Editor: Yeah, it’s hard to miss that massive bill! Art Historian: Exactly! It becomes a kind of mask, almost like a ritual object. In many cultures, birds are messengers between the earthly and spiritual realms. This toucan, with its almost cartoonishly large bill, acts as a visual conduit to somewhere… else. A place of abundance but also unfamiliarity, signified by the barely-there tropical landscape behind it. Does the setting remind you of anywhere specific? Editor: Not really, it just kind of vaguely gestures towards 'tropics.' So you're saying the vagueness of the landscape emphasizes that this is more about an idea of the exotic than a real place? Art Historian: Precisely. It is more like a stage setting; the toucan is the main event. The colours, the composition… they all funnel into creating this potent image of otherness, prompting wonder but also potentially hinting at a fear of the unknown that characterized the colonial era. It asks the question, "What do you know of otherness?" and also reminds the viewer about how the artist uses that imagery to inform about that question. Editor: That's such a different way of seeing it! I was so focused on the realism, but now I see all these layers of symbolic meaning. Thanks for the insights. Art Historian: My pleasure. It's amazing what stories even a single bird can tell us.