Eksotisk fugl 1799 - 1860

This watercolor of an exotic bird was made by Johan Christian Ernst Walter, a Danish artist active in the first half of the 19th century. During this period, Europe's colonial expansion fueled a fascination with the natural world, particularly the exotic flora and fauna encountered in newly colonized lands. Walter's rendering of this bird participates in this historical moment, where images of the exotic were both a form of scientific documentation and a projection of European desires. The "exotic" bird, perched delicately on a branch, becomes a symbol of the complex interplay between nature, science, and colonial power. The rendering may appear to be objective documentation but it cannot be separated from the historical context of cultural encounters and power dynamics which shaped its creation. In capturing its likeness, Walter also participated in defining the boundaries between the familiar and the foreign, the self and the other.