Tableau of a Harrier and Jay Oil on parchment

Tableaux. Gaston André (1884-1970). "Buzzard and Green Woodpecker". Oil on parchment. This buzzard hunting a green woodpecker, in its naturalistic aspects, is of astonishing sophistication, typical of the Art Deco aesthetic. Firstly, due to the medium used: 12 panels of parchment, which is to say an animal skin that has been purified, stretched, scraped, extended, dried, and then thinned to serve as a support for writing, drawing, or painting. But also due to its apparent realism, which relies on clear lines, a simplification and geometrisation of forms, and subtle shades.