The Long Journey

Frank Weston Benson

Frank W. Benson captures the energy and expanse of the Canada Geese migration, as they make their long journeys between Northern Canada and the Southern United States. Here, their formations string along a wintery marshland under a moody sky; the viewer can nearly hear the rush of their wings and their staccato calls as they herald the incoming rains. Benson was known as much for his atmospheric images of birds in flight, particularly waterfowl, as he was for his portraits and landscapes.

Canada Geese are large aquatic birds with long necks, long bodies, and large webbed feet. They have blacks heads with white cheeks and chinstraps and eat grain from fields and graze on grasses, and dabble in shallow water by tipping forward and extending their necks underwater. Canada Geese prefer habitats near water, grassy fields, and grain fields. Manicured lawns in parks or near water are ideal feeding grounds as the geese can digest the grasses and the openness provides a security from hidden predators.

On the verso of this impression is annotated, in pencil: "Mr. Jos Winterbotham / 163 S. Willard St. / City".This address in Burlington, VT was acquired by Champlain College after Mr. Wintherbotham's death in 1956. It is now Skiff Hall. Joseph Winterbotham was a major donor to the Art Institute of Chicago.