Penguin Painting by Francis Quirk

Through a relative of Francis Quirk, we received an image of a painting of penguins.  We were a bit surprised to see this particular painting as we had not seen cold or wintery images in his work with one exception. It seems ironic that a man who owned homes in Maine and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania seemed to have an aversion to paintings with snow. 

Adult Penguin and Chick by Francis Quirk

The painting depicts a parent penguin with a chick in an icy enviroment. The painting has four basic tones- white, beige, black and blue. The execution is typical of Quirk's painting with well executed line and attention to detail. 

We wonder if there might be some symbolism of the birds in the image that is relevant to his family.

Addendum

As it turns out the painting was executed at the request of Francis' daughter Ada-Lee. So the parental-offspring relationship may indeed reflect the personal affinity between the consignor and the artist.