The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 14, 2025

Boat-billed Flycatcher (Megarynchus pitangua)

2012

Todd Forsgren

(American, b. 1981)
inkjet print
Framed: 71.1 x 88.9 cm (28 x 35 in.)
Gift of the Artist 2020.314
© Todd Forsgren
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

To survey bird populations, ornithologists catch them temporarily in nets.

Description

Todd Forsgren created photographic portraits of the subjects of such surveys by creating makeshift studios that set the nets against white seamless backgrounds. The ensnared birds’ positions are often unnatural and to the viewer, disturbing. The artist hopes that the bird’s brief discomfort will spur the viewer to consider larger issues that threaten the survival of these species.
  • 2012-2020
    Todd Forsgren (the artist) [1981-], Billings, MT
    December 7, 2020
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Forsgren, Todd R., John A. Tyson, James Lowen, and Susan E. Wegner. Ornithological Photographs. 2015.
  • {{cite web|title=Boat-billed Flycatcher (Megarynchus pitangua)|url=false|author=Todd Forsgren|year=2012|access-date=14 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2020.314