Six Birds (1982) by Dick Bruna

I am very excited to add this original pen and ink drawing of birds by children's book great, Dick Bruna! As a young child I read all of his Nijntje books ("Miffy" in English) in Dutch and adored his spare, yet inescapably adorable illustrations. It is ridiculous how much joy I get from looking at this simple piece, but I do, and when I look at my own cartoon drawings (I have been drawing one character since I was a young kid--a bird, incidentally) I realize I must have been heavily influenced by Bruna's style. I've included a quick drawing of my own character for comparison's sake in case anyone is interested. Bruna's original works have been kept in a foundation and are regularly displayed the world over in rotating exhibitions, but have not been offered to the public. A few small works like this one are the exception, which were given to people during Bruna's lifetime. Generally, what people collect are signed & numbered lithographs, serigraphs, and posters. I am honored to add this rare and personally significant original ink work to my collection! The actual artwork is nailed into its current frame, so I until I decide to reframe it, I won't be able to investigate the piece much, but the previous owner listed the dimensions as 4.33" x 4.33" (11cm x 11cm) and it is ink on a very toothy paper surface (which I find interesting since Bruna is famous for his clean lines, which would be more difficult to achieve on such paper). It has an inscription to the original owners of the piece: "Voor Jaco en Elisabeth van Ireen en Dick, Januari 1982" on the back of the frame. I do not yet know if it is signed on the artwork itself, or if this piece is published anywhere.