Audubon’s Dream Realized: Selections from The Birds of America

last updated 8 January 2015

Naturalist John James Audubon's encyclopedic The Birds of America is 'œmore than just a work of art,' said Paul Richard in The Washington Post. 'œIt's become a national monument.' A staggering 1,065 birds appear on the pages of the book, on 435 separate sheets. It took a team of 50 to etch, print, and hand-paint each creature. Only two whole sets survive, and they usually are tucked away safely in drawers. In this exceptional exhibit, 47 of the most popular etchings are on view. These include images of the ivory-billed woodpecker, the bald eagle, the Baltimore oriole, and the extinct passenger pigeon. Some look a bit stiff or generic, and 'œtheir beadiness of eye is frequently reptilian.' But what matters more is the 'œundeniable patriotic aura that shimmers around this art.'

The etching Goshawk and Stanley Hawk (1832) is particularly interesting because it 'œreveals Audubon's development as an artist,' said Kurt Shaw in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The two hawks on the bottom, drawn in 1809, look stiff and lifeless, while the top hawk, drawn circa 1829, is more animated. Audubon was at his best when depicting birds in conflict, as in his works Virginian Partridge (1830) and The Mocking Bird (1827). The former shows 18 bobwhites under siege by a red-shouldered hawk, and the latter portrays four birds protecting their nest from a fierce rattlesnake. The birds' expressions and gestures are vivid, if unnatural. But part of what makes Audubon distinct is the way he personifies his critters. 'œThey're 'rogues,' they're 'majestic,'' says assistant curator Carlotta Owens. 'œThey way he describes them is the way he saw them.'