---
title: "Roosters (1998), Gerardo da Silva, painting"
description: "Roosters (1998), Gerardo da Silva. Acrylic on canvas, 69 x 96 cm. Painting in the João Cunha Collection."
canonical: https://chicodasilva.org/en/paintings/roosters-1998-072/
lang: en
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
translations:
  en: https://chicodasilva.org/en/paintings/roosters-1998-072/
  es: https://chicodasilva.org/es/pinturas/gallos-1998-072/
  fr: https://chicodasilva.org/fr/peintures/coqs-1998-072/
  pt: https://chicodasilva.org/pt/pinturas/galos-1998-072/
  ar: https://chicodasilva.org/ar/%D9%84%D9%88%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%AA/%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%83-1998-072/
  zh-Hans: https://chicodasilva.cn/%E4%BD%9C%E5%93%81/%E5%8F%8C%E9%B8%A1-1998-072/
---

# Roosters

![Two nearly identical crested birds facing off symmetrically with sweeping tails on a pale ground. Roosters, Gerardo da Silva, 1998, acrylic on canvas.](https://img.chicodasilva.org/jcc-072/gerardo-da-silva-roosters-1998-acrylic-on-canvas-69x96cm-joao-cunha-collection-jcc-072-chicodasilva.org-640.jpg)

[Download image](https://img.chicodasilva.org/jcc-072/gerardo-da-silva-roosters-1998-acrylic-on-canvas-69x96cm-joao-cunha-collection-jcc-072-chicodasilva.org-3200.jpg)

Description for blind and low-vision visitors

A horizontal painting built on near-mirror symmetry: two almost identical birds face one another at center, beaks nearly touching. Each has a spiky dark crest, a round red eye, a body patterned in blue-gray with a mottled pink-and-red patch on the upper wing, and a belly marked with rows of leaf-like and oval motifs. Their long sweeping tail feathers fan outward to the left and right edges in fine multicolored striations of red, green and blue. Below, their red legs end in curved black talons that meet near the center over a low bank of pale-blue cloud forms. The upper corners hold soft lavender cloud shapes, and the central ground is a calm pale yellow, making the two confronting figures stand out cleanly.

- **Artist:** [Gerardo da Silva](https://chicodasilva.org/en/biography/)
- **Year:** 1998
- **Technique:** Acrylic on canvas
- **Support:** Canvas
- **Dimensions:** 69 x 96 cm
- **Motif:** [Roosters](https://chicodasilva.org/en/motifs/roosters/)
- **Collection:** [João Cunha Collection](https://chicodasilva.org/en/about/)
- **Signature:** GERARDO DA SILVA, lower center
- **Photo:** Eric Keki
- **Inventory no.:** [JCC-072](https://chicodasilva.org/id/jcc-072)
- **Article:** [Chica da Silva, the Painter's Daughter](https://chicodasilva.org/en/articles/chica-da-silva-the-painters-daughter/)

## The signature

![Detail of the painted signature: «GERARDO DA SILVA»](https://img.chicodasilva.org/signatures/gerardo-da-silva-signature-1998-jcc-072-chicodasilva.org-640.jpg)

*The canvas is signed “GERARDO DA SILVA”, at the center of the lower edge.*

## Provenance

1.  The artist, Fortaleza, 1998
2.  Instituto Cultural Oboé, Fortaleza
3.  Leilão Montenegro, auction, 2025
4.  João Cunha Collection

## How to credit

[Photographs free to reuse, with credit (CC BY 4.0)](https://chicodasilva.org/en/about/#license)

Gerardo da Silva, “Roosters” (1998). Photo: Eric Keki, João Cunha Collection, CC BY 4.0. https://chicodasilva.org/id/jcc-072

The license covers the photograph, not the painting.

## For IIIF viewers

-   [IIIF manifest](https://chicodasilva.org/iiif/jcc-072/manifest.json)