Edward Lear,
Psittacula Taranta, c.1830, hand colored lithograph, 13 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art.
English artist Edward Lear was born on this day in 1812. Lear was an accomplished artist, musician, and poet. He is perhaps better well known for his poetry and limericks than for his art. However, he was a gifted artist, producing illustrations of birds and other animals, as shown in today's Artwork of the Day. In fact, today's artwork is from the same year than Lear, at the age of 19, produced a collection entitled
Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae, or Parrots.