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Karl Free Bengal Tiger 1926 watercolor on paper Whitney Museum of American Art, New York |
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Frederick Stuart Church The Lady and the Tiger 1900 watercolor on paper Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC |
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Joseph Cornell Definition of a Clytie before 1972 collage on paper Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC |
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Judy Chicago Pink Atmosphere 1970 inkjet print Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC |
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David Bailey Catherine Deneuve 1968 gelatin silver print Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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James Balog Chilean Flamingos, Sunken Gardens, Saint Petersburg, Florida 1989 dye transfer print Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia |
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Walton Ford Visitation 2004 etching and aquatint Whitney Museum of American Art, New York |
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David Beck Dodos en suite 2010 bronze Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC |
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Fiona Pardington Kiwi (from series, Whanganui Museum) 2008 gelatin silver print Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane |
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Emil Nolde General and Batman 1906 woodcut Moderna Museet, Stockholm |
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Bernardino Poccetti (Bernardino Barbatelli) Winged Head before 1612 drawing National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa |
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Anna Gaskell Untitled #6 (Wonder) 1996 C-print Guggenheim Museum, New York |
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Ivor Francis Growth 1941 oil on canvas National Gallery of Australia, Canberra |
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Philip-Lorca diCorcia Hannah 2004 C-print Whitney Museum of American Art, New York |
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Honoré Daumier Les Aztecs devant les Savants 1855 lithograph Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas |
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George Condo Clown 1989 aquatint Whitney Museum of American Art, New York |
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Bacchiacca (Francesco Ubertini) Woman in Profile with Elaborate Headdress ca. 1520 drawing Nasher Museum of Art, Durham, North Carolina |
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Tracey Moffatt Laudanum 1998 gelatin silver print Moderna Museet, Stockholm |
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Myfanwy MacLeod Untitled (The Mascot) ca. 1999-2001 C-print Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario |
Who Guessed Amiss the Riddle of the Sphinx
In the night my great swamp-willow fell.
I had run home early, dark by five,
To find the young sphinx and the hearth swept bare
By the lazy thrashing of her tail.
A scraping on my window woke me late.
Circling those roots aghast in air
I asked of wind, of rottenness, the cause,
As yet unaware of having forgotten
Her yellow gaze unwinking, vertical pupil,
Stiff wing, dark nipple, firelit paws
– All that the odor of my hand brings back
Hiding my face, beside the boughs
Whose tall believed exuberance fallen,
Bug goes witless, liquors lack,
Profusion riddled to its core of dream
Dies, whispering names.
She only from the dead flames rose,
Sniffed once my open palm, but disdained cream,
Civilities of the aftermath.
Now even the young tree branching in that palm
Is gone, as if for having blocked a path.