Birds of America ~ John James Audubon at the Figge Art Museum

Saturday, 01 December 2007 08:01

 

Davenport, Iowa - John James Audubon (1785–1851) combined his love of nature with his artistic talent to produce some of the most beautiful and lifelike depictions of birds ever created. This exhibition presents forty chromolithographs selected from the Charles Deere collection of 98 Audubon’s “Birds of America” Bien edition prints that have recently been conserved and re-framed. Audubon’s contribution to ornithology was revolutionary and today his name is synonymous with birds, nature conservation and education. On exhibition 2 February through 11 May 2008 at the Figge Art Museum.

His story is a dramatic and surprising one. Audubon was not born in America, but saw more of the North American continent than virtually anyone alive, and even in his own time he came to exemplify America - the place of wilderness and wild things. Born in Haiti, the illegitimate son of a sea captain was raised in France and sent to America to avoid conscription into Emperor Napoleon’s army. He lived in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina and New York; he traveled everywhere from Labrador to Florida, from the Republic of Texas to the mouth of the Yellowstone; he was a merchant, salesman, teacher, hunter, itinerant portraitist and woodsman, an artist and a scientist; he was, in a sense, an amalgamation of American culture of his time.

Audubon's dream of recording every native bird of North America consumed nearly twenty years of his life and was realized with the publication of this mammoth edition of 435 hand-colored etchings, all based on his vivid life-size watercolors. This consisted of hand-colored, life-size prints made from engraved plates measuring around 39 by 26 inches. This original edition was engraved in aquatint by Robert Havell, Jr ; known as the Double Elephant folio. The Birds of America was issued in 87 parts of 5 plates each and when completed in June 1838 contained 435 hand-colored engravings of 1,065 birds of 489 species. By this time Audubon had become a celebrated figure in the United States and in Europe, appearing in the press, lecturing to the public, and finally attaining the financial and professional security that alluded him for so long.

Seven years after their fathers' death, Audubon's sons began an American edition of Birds of America with Julius Bien, a New York printer who was pioneering the field of chromolithography. Bien transferred the images from Havell's copper plates onto lithographic stones. Then as many as thirty printing stages, with additional hand engraving and coloring, were used to reproduce the subtleties of the original engravings. The Bien Edition is the one of the first great examples of chromolithography in America and remains among the finest examples of this medium ever produced. Although the exact number of Bien Edition folios made is unknown, it is the scarcest of all Audubon original editions. Charles Deere probably purchased the 1860 Bien Edition Birds of America Audubon prints in the 1870s. It is believed that less than fifty copies of the Bien Birds of America exist today.

Today The Birds of America prints and the brilliant watercolors upon which they are based are admired not only for their ornithological accuracy, but also for their vitality and keen sense of design. Audubon drew birds from life whenever possible rather than from specimens alone. Of equal or greater importance, he observed the birds in depth and detail. He took note of the birds' food and habitat preferences meticulously and he watched them move, interact, and behave. He strove for action and reality; this was a new approach to the painting of birds. Accustomed to seeing specimens shown simply, against a blank background, some naturalists objected to Audubon's use of dramatic poses and settings. His attempt to position them as they moved in the wild, using wire armatures to support the specimens, was truly revolutionary.

This is a rare opportunity to see a large number of these popular elephant folio (approximately 3’ x 2’ in size) prints. As you explore the artwork of this exhibition, consider the complex story that each image is telling and the fragile beauty it is depicting. These paintings reflect Audubon's love and fascination with the beauty and dynamics of birds and their lively action jumps from the pages.

A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children. – John James Audubon

Visit The Figge Art Museum at : www.figgeartmuseum.org/

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