© 2004 François Blin ...Science Art-Birds

Title: Morning Calm (Matin Calme)
Species: Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)
Artist: François Blin (for further information, click on the artist's name)
Image size:
Media: oil
Date: 20064
Artist's collection in Paris

The artist noted: "It was enjoyable creating this portrait of the aesthetic swan. I have tried to translate the elegance of his stylish movement. For me, the white color suggests serenity--the color of silence. I acknowledge this discrimination is pictorially and politically incorrect!!"

The adult Mute Swan is readily identified by its orange bill and black knob above it. See also the caption for Barbara Banthien's Mute Swan, also this group of images, which discusses the conservation status for this bird in North America. In France, where the artist lives, the estimated population is from 1,000 to 10,000 pairs. Farther afield, Mute Swans infected with the H5N1 virus have been reported Russia, Romania, Croatia, Ukraine and Turkey.