Audubon Gallery (Gallery)

This gallery features a rare complete four-folio set of The Birds of America, the culmination of John James Audubon’s quest to depict every existing bird species in North America. Beginning in 1820 the self-trained naturalist and painter traveled the continent for eighteen years, collecting specimens. To attain the most lifelike bird illustrations yet produced, Audubon used a technique that involved manipulating and posing the bodies of freshly killed birds, which he had hunted and shot—often to inhumane excess. He then wired and pinned them onto a gridded board in emotionally dramatic poses, portraying them life-size with remarkable detail.

Despite Audubon’s artistic accomplishments, the scientific community questioned his methods. Finding no institutional support in the US, he traveled to Great Britain in 1826 seeking funding and an engraver for his ambitious project. An industrious self-promoter, he presented himself to British audiences as a long-haired, buckskin-clad American woodsman and quickly gained popularity. Vital to the project, London-based animal engraver Robert Havell and his son translated each of Audubon’s 435 watercolor studies into exquisite engravings. Hand-colored prints were originally purchased by subscribers in sets of five, which they would later bind into four double-elephant folios, so-called for their enormous size.

This gallery will rotate periodically, always exploring different facets of Audubon and his monumental project.