Rites of Spring (Frightened Bird)

Martin Barooshian

This colorful and whimsical color woodcut by Martin Barooshian, done in 1959, shows the influence of the Surrealists and his personal interest in the work of Arshile Gorky.

In 1956, Barooshian was in Paris where he studied printmaking at Atelier 17 with S.W. Hayter. His early work was influenced by the Surrealists, Gauguin, William Blake and Gorky.

The artist uses a variety of block cutting techniques and deep oil based colors that move from dark to light, as well as representative references to singing birds and biomorphic shapes to create his composition.

"The Rite of Spring" was a 1913 ballet and concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky that was performed by Diaghilev's Ballet Russes and choreographed by Najinsky, creating a near riot when it was first performed. It appeared to be a musical theme without a melody, only a loud, pulsating, dissonant chord with jarring, irregular accents.

One of the dancers recalled that Vaslav Nijinsky's shocking choreography was physically unnatural to perform. "With every leap we landed heavily enough to jar every organ in us." The music itself was angular, dissonant and totally unpredictable. The audience responded with hisses and catcalls.