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Bird of Paradise
Bird of Paradise
Bird of Paradise

Bird of Paradise

Artist (American, born 1940)
Date1980
Mediumdye diffusion prints (Polaroid Polacolor II)
DimensionsImage: 24 1/4 × 20 1/2 in. (61.6 × 52.1 cm)
Support (1): 30 × 22 in. (76.2 × 55.9 cm)
Support (2): 26 × 21 1/2 in. (66 × 54.6 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Credit LineGift of Betty Hahn, 2014
Object number2014.5.1
DescriptionBotanical composition with two stalks with Bird of Paradise blooms against a sheet of paper with botanical illustrations of the flower and its parts.
eMuseum Notes
Playing off against the classic romantic overtones of floral subject matter, Betty Hahn instead creates a more clinical examination of flowers in her Botanical Layout series. Working at a time when many female artists were revisiting crafts and subject matter traditionally associated with women, Hahn tackles the delicate realm of flowers with a clinical eye. Placing them in a scientific context, the artist removes their symbolic and decorative overtones to create both an instruction manual and a memento mori.
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