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Birds

The Goldfinch, Birds, Art, and Us
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Brief Description
Simon Schama explores our enduring fascination with birds in a visually stunning art book. No other creatures have fixed themselves so obsessively and ubiquitously in our restless, earth-stuck imagination as birds... the fixation painted, imprinted, sculpted, filmed in our art. - Simon Schama From Icarus to... Read More
Format: Hardback
$6999

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Simon Schama explores our enduring fascination with birds in a visually stunning art book.

No other creatures have fixed themselves so obsessively and ubiquitously in our restless, earth-stuck imagination as birds... the fixation painted, imprinted, sculpted, filmed in our art. - Simon Schama

From Icarus to Peter Pan, who hasn't dreamt of flying? Birds are the embodiment of our desires, fears, and fantasies. In this publication, internationally renowned art historian Simon Schama and Mauritshuis director Martine Gosselink explore the fascinating relationship between humans and birds through art, literature, and cultural history.

Carel Fabritius's world-famous Goldfinch, Picasso's Dove, Brancusi's Bird in Space, an Egyptian falcon mummy, a feather dress by Iris van Herpen: this book is a visual and literary journey through centuries of bird imagery. The icing on the cake is a wonderful anthology of bird stories from, among other works, The Epic of Gilgamesh and One Thousand and One Nights, as well as bird poems by such writers as Rabindranath Tagore, Ted Hughes, Bob Marley, and Rumi.

With contributions by Simon Schama, Martine Gosselink, Laura Cumming, Stefan Hertmans, Philip Hoare, Eva Meijer, and Adrienne Quarles van Ufford.

This book is published on the occasion of the exhibition BIRDS - Curated by The Goldfinch & Simon Schama in Mauritshuis, The Hague, from 12 February to 7 June 2026.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9789493416512

Publisher: Hannibal Books

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 12 March 2026

Country: Belgium

Imprint: Hannibal Books

Illustration: Full colour

Contributors:

  • Text by Eva Meijer
  • Text by Stefan Hertmans
  • Text by Laura Cumming
  • Edited by Simon Schama
  • Text by Philip Hoare
  • Text by Adrienne Quarles van Ufford
  • Foreword by Martine Gosselink

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 265.0mm

Height: 215.0mm

Weight: 1000g

Pages: 200

Collections

Arts & Culture Non-Fiction Science & Nature

About the Author

Sir Simon Schama is a University Professor of Art History and History. His courses have addressed the British Empire, English and French art and politics, the Gothic Revival in England, Ruskin, and Victorian culture. His award-winning 15-part television series, "A History of Britain," was broadcast on the BBC and the History Channel from 2000 to 2002, and a new series, "The Power of Art," on PBS and BBC in 2006 and 2007. He served as Vice President of PEN American Center from 1994 to 1996, and from 1995 to 1998 he was art critic of The New Yorker magazine, for which he continues to write. In 2019, he was awarded a knighthood for services to history at Buckingham Palace.

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