Sketch of Nesting Stork
Medium
Black pastel on gray wove paper
Dimensions
11.8 × 14.8 cm (4 11/16 × 5 7/8 in.)
Classification
pastel
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
46998
Art Historical Context
Nestled in the Art Institute of Chicago's and Drawings collection, *Sketch of Nesting St* by Henry Stacy Marks (1829–1898) offers a glimpse into the intimate world of a Victorian artist's studio practice. Rendered in black pastel on gray wove paper this undated study measures a modest 11.8 × 14.8 cm, suggesting it was a quick, portable observation—perhaps from life or memory—capturing the graceful form of a stork tending its nest. Marks, a prominent British painter and Royal Academician, was celebrated for his whimsical bird paintings, often infusing feathered subjects with human-like charm i...
About the Artist
Henry Stacy Marks · 1829–1898
Henry Stacy Marks (1829–1898) was born on 13 September 1829 in London, the fourth child of coachbuilder John Isaac Marks and Elizabeth Pally. Initially apprenticed in his father's trade and briefly working as a clerk, Marks displayed early artistic talent, learning to paint heraldry for carriages. He began formal training around 1847 at James Mathews Leigh's art school in Newman Street, where he b...