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Explore the artistBriton Rivière →
A flock of geese and a dark shape
A flock of white geese crowds against a stone wall, necks stretched, beaks open, honking in alarm. At their feet lies a small dark shape that has startled them.
Briton Rivière painted An Anxious Moment in 1878. A version belongs to Royal Holloway, University of London.
Necks stretched in alarm
The geese huddle together, some turning their heads, others stretching forward. Rivière caught the nervous movement of a flock reacting to something unfamiliar.
Their orange beaks and wide eyes give each bird a slightly comic, worried expression. The gentle humour lies in how much alarm a small object can cause.
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An Anxious Moment, painted by hand
Briton Rivière · oil on canvas, made to order
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Questions about An Anxious Moment
What frightens the geese?
A small dark object lying on the ground in front of them.
Who painted it?
Briton Rivière, in 1878.
Where is it?
A version belongs to Royal Holloway, University of London.
Is it humorous?
Yes. The geese react with great alarm to something small.
Sources and image credit
Public-domain reproduction of An Anxious Moment (1878). Detail images are crops of the same image; no reconstruction or upscaling.
