Cockatoos, Toucan, Macaw and a Parrot
Henry Stacy Marks had been fond of birds since his childhood, but did not use them as subjects for his paintings until the middle of his very varied career. He frequently sketched parrots in London Zoo, near his home. These visits inspired what is probably his most famous painting A Select Committee (1891), featuring macaws, parrots, and sulphur-crested cockatoos, now at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. Marks was interested in the parallels between human behaviour and bird behaviour, but was discouraged from anthropomorphising them by Mr Bartlett, Superintendent of London Zoo. In this painting the two white birds are cockatoos, the toucan with its large beak sits between them, the green bird perched below is a parrot, and the brightly coloured macaw is on the right. Cockatoos come from Australasia, toucans and macaws from South America, while parrots are found in all tropical and subtropical continents.
Henry Stacy Marks’ father ran the family coach building business and to assist his father Marks learnt to paint coats of arms. He attended evening classes in art and later studied in Paris. Marks first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1853, and during the 1850s and 1860s his exhibited works there concentrated on scenes from Shakespeare plays or historical genre paintings of medieval scenes.
To supplement his income from painting he worked as an illustrator, art critic of The Spectator, porcelain decoration and decorative work for houses and churches.
