Yellow Warbler

Joseph Bartholomew Kidd, after John James Audubon

National Gallery of Art

A branch with long, bell-shaped golden-yellow flowers and dark green leaves drops from near the top right corner of this vertical painting. Four clusters of four or five blossoms each are spaced along two branches that fork from the main stem. Each flower is russet-red or burnt orange on the outside of the long petals, which flare to reveal a vivid yellow interior. Two yellow birds perching among the flowers are easily overlooked at first glance. The birds are small, about the size of each cluster of blossoms. They each stand on a branching stem and both face inward. The branches are outlined against a hazy blue sky with soft billowing clouds.