An unusual bird family

The sculpture shows a cuckoo chick being fed by its foster parent. The motif is based on the cuckoo's remarkable breeding behaviour, in which the bird lays its eggs in the nests of other species. Once the chick hatches, it is cared for and fed by its foster parents, even though it quickly grows much larger than they are.

It is precisely this paradoxical situation that Gunnar Westman captured in bronze. The small bird's care for the enormous chick gives the sculpture a character that is both humorous and touching. At the same time, the motif invites a closer look and reveals an unexpected story from the natural world.

Created by Gunnar Westman

The Cuckoo Chick was created in 1949 by the Danish sculptor Gunnar Westman (1915-1985). He began his career as a silversmith before studying at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. Throughout his career, he developed a distinctive and narrative style inspired, among other things, by Swedish folk art.

Westman often worked with motifs featuring birds, animals, children and families. Many of his works are characterised by an immediacy and warmth that make them easy to connect with. The Cuckoo Chick is a fine example of this approach and of the artist's ability to find poetry and humour in everyday life and nature.

Experience the sculpture in Eventyrhaven

The sculpture stands in Eventyrhaven, a park that has been home to a number of public artworks over the years. Here, The Cuckoo Chick forms part of the park's art collection and adds a nature-inspired motif to the garden's other sculptures.

At first glance, the scene appears simple. But once you realise that the largest bird is the chick and the smallest is its foster parent, the sculpture takes on an entirely different character. These are exactly the kinds of details that Gunnar Westman had a gift for capturing in his work.