Artwork
Plucked turkey
Plucked turkey is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Pedro Alexandrino Borges. It dates from 1903 and is held in the collection of the Pinacoteca de São Paulo.
About this work
Overview
Pedro Alexandrino Borges painted Plucked Turkey in 1903, an oil work now part of the collection at the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo. The composition presents a solitary, freshly prepared turkey laid across a wooden chair, surrounded by modest kitchen accoutrements.
Subject & Meaning
The central figure is a white, plucked turkey, its neck and wings retaining a few dark feathers. It rests on a carved chair whose legs dangle, while red tomatoes and scattered green leaves lie on the floor, suggesting a domestic scene of food preparation and consumption.
Technique & Style
Borges employs a warm palette dominated by golden hues, rendering the bird’s flesh and the wooden chair with a tactile realism. Strong chiaroscuro models the forms, giving the turkey a three‑dimensional presence against a darkened backdrop that hints at a table or counter.
History & Provenance
Since its creation at the turn of the twentieth century, the painting has remained in Brazil, eventually entering the holdings of São Paulo’s state art museum, where it is displayed among other works of the period.
Context
The work reflects the still‑life tradition prevalent in Brazilian academic painting of the early 1900s, where everyday objects and food items were rendered with careful observation to convey both materiality and cultural practices.
Artist & collection
Artist
Pedro Alexandrino Borges (1856–1942) was an artist, born in São Paulo.
