Audubon's Legacy Veronica Nadalin
The Sweet Briar College art collection has several lovely pieces done by John James Audubon (1786-1851, French). The pieces highlight the different levels and stages in his career. The traditional and more known bird drawings represent the beginning of his career. They also represent his life-long dream and goal, to catalogue all the birds in North America. The quadruped pieces come from the later part of his career when he took a tour of the Great Plains area. In the National Gallery of Art there are more than four drawers of Audubon’s work. Unlike some of Audubon’s work at Sweet Briar, these prints are not framed or cut down, but rather in their original shape and size. There is some damage due to stacking the works of art, but the work is more impressive because it is up close and personal. The woman showing the work allowed the viewers to touch the work of art, as long as their hands were clean, which made the experience even more impressive. The works shown were huge, compared to the ones at Sweet Briar because Audubon had drawn his birds to scale, the colors were vibrant and the pieces with backgrounds were awe-inspiring because the backgrounds contrasted the birds. Most of the works at Sweet Briar College are of the mammals and field mice. Audubon had captured those animals’ movement on a much smaller scale. In some of the works, at Sweet Briar and the National Gallery of Art, errors could be seen. On some of the prints, there were stray color marks and in one, there was a section where a couple of the leaves were not filled in. It is interesting how such details could be missed by the artist and the publisher. However, it makes Audubon seem more human because he committed errors like all artists. The collection of Audubon’s work in the Rare Books Room in the Library of Congress was equally as impressive as the ones at the National Gallery of Art. This session was not as informative or interactive, but the pieces were still amazing. The Library of Congress and Sweet Briar each have a print of “The Tern,” but they are different. The grass in the one from the Library of Congress is darker and has more gray to it. Also, the detail on the birds seems to be clearer on the one from the Library of Congress. However, it is hard to be exact in comparing the prints because the one at Sweet Briar College is framed and behind glass, while the one from the Library of Congress is not. Audubon used a variety of materials when sketching the initial drawing of his creatures. When making the formal prints, however, aquatint was applied to make the birds and quadrupeds more realistic to the viewer with the addition of aquatint. What is interesting is the first ten works of his “Birds” collection do not have the aquatint and it is quite noticeable because the birds do not seem as alive or interesting to the viewer. Although Audubon is best known for his birds and quadrupeds, he originally started off doing sketches, drawings, and paintings of people. That is one way he became known and able to get funding in order to pursue his bird project. His subjects were always portrayed as they were seen in the real world; he did not try to embellish his subjects in any way, shape or form. He used natural colors and refrained from making his subjects seem out of the ordinary. However, some of his critics criticized his work because it was different from any other way birds had been drawn before. He attempted to make his birds three-dimensional and showed them in various action poses, instead of the standard two-dimensional drawings everyone else was used to seeing. Throughout his life, John James Audubon worked hard to create a guide in which all the world can recognize the species of America and be interpreted either in naturalistic views or in the views of Kant. John James Audubon was born and originally named Jean Jacques Fougere Audubon on his father’s sugar plantation in Saint Dominique (present day Haiti) on April 26,1785. He later Americanized his name. His father was a French sea captain and a slave master. His mother, Jeanne Rabin, was a chambermaid and a mistress, so he was considered a bastard child. His biological mother passed away within the first few months he was born. Fortunately, Jean Audubon’s legal wife, Anne Moynet, adopted John James Audubon and cared for him as her own. He was brought to Nantes, France, and it was kept secret that he was an illegitimate child. The public thought that he was the son of Anne Moynet and Jean Audubon. His identity was kept secret because in France in those days, illegitimate children could not inherit any of their parents’ fortunes. However, later in John James Audubon’s life, it was rumored that he actually was the “Lost Dauphin” of France, thus making him Louis XVII. John James Audubon was officially adopted Moynet and Audubon in March of 1789. In 1803 he was sent to live in America by his father so he would not have to be a spectator or become a soldier of the Napoleonic Wars. He went with a fake passport. On his journey over, John James Audubon was stricken with yellow fever. As soon as he arrived in America he was placed in the care of a Quaker woman in a boarding house in Mills Grove, Pennsylvania. The woman taught him to speak English during his recovery. Once he recovered, he met and fell in love with his neighbor Lucy Green Blakewell, who he would eventually end up marrying. She was the first born and eldest girl in the family. Before he married Lucy Green Blakewell in 1808, he enjoyed living in Mills Grove. This is where his love of nature truly began to flourish. He was often seen hunting, fishing, drawing, riding, or whatever else he felt could be done outdoors. He also played the violin and the flute, often times with Lucy on the piano and they would perform duets. “He was volatile, excitable, and vivacious” (Rhodes 5). Everyone enjoyed his presence and his company, both men and women, but especially women. Through his lifetime, women would often flirt with John James Audubon and tell Lucy how lucky she was to have found such a magnificent husband. John James Audubon was considered to be handsome, and unfortunately, he knew it and was quite vain. He was five feet eleven inches, had a “French nose,” had sandy colored hair and was charismatic and sociable. He also had a tendency to stretch stories. He even claimed at one point to go hunting with Daniel Boone. During his time at Mills Grove, he often went on excursions to the bluffs where he first began to do his bird drawings. He had a cave, which he considered his study and would hang out there for hours at a time. Audubon typically went alone on these excursions, however, Lucy Green Blakewell did go along with him sometimes. He is the first to conduct bird banding on the North American continent. Bird banding is when an individual ties a piece of rope to a bird’s leg to see whether or not that bird comes back to nest in the same place the next year (the technology today is much better). Audubon loved everything that could be found in nature and “wanted to make art of bird illustration: to bring birds he drew back to animated life…. “Pleasing to every person” (Rhodes 11), His dream would eventually become a reality. Soon after he and Lucy were married, they moved to Kentucky after living a while longer in Philadelphia because Audubon attempted to work with a friend in the business industry. He opened a dry goods store in Henderson, Kentucky. However, the economy soon began to struggle due to wars, especially the War of 1812 and he moved his expanding family to New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1821. In addition to the wars, there were also frequent earthquakes in Kentucky from 1811-1812 that destroyed the area and the income of the families of the region. Audubon had two sons and two daughters. They were Victor Gifford (b. June 12, 1809), John Woodhouse (b. November 30, 1812), Lucy (1815-1817) and Rose (b. 1819). Before his arrival in New Orleans, he decided to pursue his dream of documenting and drawing all the birds in America. So he sailed down the Mississippi River with his art supplies and tried to keep with his goal of drawing a bird a day. In New Orleans, he lived on Barracks Street in the modern day French Quarter. He soon became restless and that summer he moved out to the plantations. He lived on the Oakley Plantation in a town by the name of Felicianas and taught the daughter, Eliza Pirrie, to draw. However, he spent most of his time doing his own work. Today, the plantation is now the Audubon State Historic Site and is a main tourist attraction, like most of the places Audubon lived and visited. In order to draw his birds, Audubon spent most of his time in the field. However, he felt that he had to be more interactive with the birds in order to portray them correctly in his work. He often had to shoot them, or he hired someone to shoot the birds for him. Audubon had to be careful though, because if the bird was shot wrong at the wrong gauge, the bird would explode into pieces and it would be a waste of time, supplies, and a bird. After shooting the bird or birds he would hang them from wires and string, turning the birds into marionettes, or puppets. He then would move the birds with the strings to make them look how they looked when they were alive. He was often criticized by peers like Alexander Wilson, who used stuffed birds in order to do their drawing, because they believed Audubon might wipe out an entire population on birds by missed shots or other accidents. Audubon ignored them, though and continued with his work. Audubon also caught birds when he could and kept them in cages. Yet, those birds would eventually meet their fate as well, because Audubon would then put them in a closet full of carbon dioxide or some other poison at night, so the bird or birds would be dead by the next morning. This did not always work, however, and often this process would be repeated several nights in a row until the bird(s) was dead. Audubon also ate his birds after he was done drawing them, so they would not go to waste. In order to receive an income, Audubon did portraits of people while his wife tutored children from wealthy plantation families. While doing this John James Audubon was in search of a publisher for his “Birds of America.” He had no luck in the United States, mainly because his contemporaries did not like him. He did not give up, however, and went to Europe to find a publisher. In 1826 he found success. A publishing company in Liverpool loved his work. The British fell in love with the “backwoods America” and he instantly became a celebrity. He became known as the “American Woodsman.” His popularity allowed him to raise enough funds in order to publish his “Birds of America.” The portfolio contained prints made from plates measuring in 39” by 26.” Robert Havell engraved the images with aquatint and Havell and Audubon became friends and business partners. “Birds of America” was nicknamed the Double Elephant folio, due to its size and it is often considered to be the greatest picture book ever to be published. Everyone in Europe loved John James Audubon. He was invited to several courts, including King George III of England. Napoleon Bonaparte and his brother bought some of Audubon’s work. In one of his demonstration, Charles Darwin was in that audience. Later, when Darwin would write “Origin of Species” and discuss his theory of evolution, John James Audubon would be mentioned in his work. After “Birds of America,” Audubon teamed up with William MacGillivray, a Scottish ornithologist and created “Ornithological Biographies;” a work that focused on birds of Scotland. The work was published in a series from 1827 to 1839. While working on that project, Audubon made frequent trips to the Hudson River Valley (and purchased a home) to continue his “Birds of America” project. Lucy and his two sons missed and worried about Audubon and all of his traveling because since his first bout with yellow fever, he periodically came down with fever throughout his life. Audubon and Lucy would write letters to one another begging the other to join him or her wherever he or she was. Audubon often lamented to others that he wished his family would travel along with him, but he knew that that would be impractical. In 1842, Audubon published another installation in the “Birds of America” series and began his last project, the “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America.” Unfortunately, Audubon died January 29, 1851, of illness before the project was finished, but it was published posthumously by his sons and son-in-law. He was buried at the Trinity Churchyard Cemetary in Manhattan, New York, and later, his wife, Lucy, would be buried next to him. Audubon’s legacy has lived on. In 1905 the National Audubon Society was founded by George Bird Grinnell, who was tutored by Lucy, Audubon’s wife because he felt the name was both fitting and inspiring for the new organization. There are several cities and counties named Audubon. In Henderson, Kentucky, there is a 692-acre state park named after him. A museum is also located in the park and displays many of his personal possessions and art supplies. There is also a city park and zoo in New Orleans, Louisiana. Contrary to popular belief, John James Audubon was not the first person to dream of documenting and drawing all the birds in America. A man by the name of Alexander Wilson is known to be the first man to have attempted to draw all the birds of North America. However, Audubon’s attention to detail and popularity led him to be the most recognized artist for wildlife work. His “Birds of America” portfolio contains 435 prints. Today his work is still used. Of the 435 bird prints, five of them are of species that are now extinct in America. His work enables scientists to study these birds in a different way, besides using stuffed replicas and skeletons. His quadrupeds captured mammals in positions an situations that have not been matched, except in the medium of photography. His works is admired and applauded by experts and is praised for not being afraid to draw the birds the way he saw them. His methods are sometimes considered a bit far-fetched and strange. His name and his work are recognized internationally with birds, the studying of birds, and bird watching. Audubon also did not have much formal training in art; he was mostly self-taught or was mentored along the way by admirers. However, Audubon stressed that he had studied with the French painter Jacques-Louis David in 1802, but there is no evidence that he studied under David. Eskimo comes from his “Viviparous Quadrupeds of America” collection, which was part of his final project. Audubon stayed with various tribes of Native Americans and learned about their culture. Audubon admired the Native Americans and became good friends with them. They traded ideas, items, and stories. The Native Americans enjoyed watching Audubon draw the animals without disturbing them. The Eskimo dog was a vital part of the lives of many Native American tribes. These dogs were more than mere companion animals; they aided the Native Americans in hunting and were also utilized as sled dogs. The dogs are a result of domesticating wolves centuries beforehand. In modern United States of America, these dogs are known either as Huskies or Malamutes and are still used as sled dogs. In dog shows, they are categorized under the working dog category. These dogs are loyal and can make excellent domesticated pets. However, they do better in colder climates because their fur coats are so thick and heavy that it can be stressful for them to live in warmer climates. Audubon was not the only individual to draw the Eskimoux dogs. Another artist, Keulemans, in 1890 created a series of drawings that focused on canis species. He has drawings of foxes, wolves, and several drawings of the Eskimoux dog breed. His work of the Eskimoux dog and Audubon’s “Eskimo dog” are similar. In both drawings the dog has similar markings and the coats are almost identical. The faces are almost raccoon-like and the coats are fluffy and thick. The colorings are black, grey, and varying shades of brown. The difference between the drawings is that Audubon as two dogs and a detailed background; while drawing features one dog that is directly facing outward and there is no background. It has been documented that John James Audubon gave backgrounds to his subjects that he favored or had more time for. Since John James Audubon had a wonderful learning and living experience with the various Native American tribes, he most likely thought it would be fitting to honor the Native American tribes by drawing them in one of his drawings. Also, since “Eskimo dog” was one of his final pieces, he may have felt that his final drawings should be some of the best he has ever worked on. Other pieces in his “Viviparious Quadrupeds of America Collection” have detailed backgrounds as well. Again, since “Vivarious Quadrupeds of America” was his final project he probably wanted to experience and practice a revolutionary technique for his style of work. However, some of his “Birds of America” had detailed backgrounds as well. The drawings with backgrounds were of birds he favored the most. Most of these were birds native to Louisiana and New Orleans, one of his favorite places to live and felt much more at home living at. One of these prints includes the “Heron.” This print has a very dark background, which contrasts the white feathers of the heron. In another one of his “Birds of America” prints he actually included himself in the background, hiding in the brush with a gun. There are also Creole style houses in the background, which makes it identifiable that the bird is native to Louisiana. With all of Audubon’s’ prints, he took great care in making sure the prints were exact replicas of what he witnessed in the wild. Havell, the man who added color and aquatint to John James Audubon’s work went through an interesting process. The white that is witnessed in the prints is actually the paper in which the print is placed on. So all the fine white details are from the paper itself and not colored or filled in with white. This was a tedious process, for the pages went under a press several times to catch and portray the affect of the bird or birds that John James Audubon wanted the viewer to get from the drawings. However, in some of the prints, if one looks closely enough, there are some errors. Sometimes there are stray color marks and in a couple of the prints, including some at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., Havell and John James Audubon missed where to fill in some color. This happens in the prints where there is great detail in the foliage around the bird. A good majority of the time, John James Audubon instructed Havell to create the foliage in the prints because John James Audubon wanted to complete his “Birds of America” project as quickly and efficiently as possible. He would send details with the drawing of the bird to Havell in which to draw the backgrounds. Sometimes Havell would ignore John James Audubon’s notes and took it into his own hands and artistic ingression to create the foliage around the birds. Surprisingly, John James Audubon did not mind too much and allowed Havell to do this on several occasions. It is almost if Havell was the main artist. As John James Audubon neared the end of his “Birds of America” collection, he began to rush and not take as much time or put in as much detail into his work. He started to work from stuffed birds sent to him from the United States of America while he worked over in Europe. He also started combining different species of birds into the same print, which took away from the affect of the drawings and it also seemed awkward, because these birds did not necessarily live in the same habitat in the wild. Also, his colorings for the birds were not exact. For example, his “Flamingo” print is unnatural. It is unnatural in the sense that the main flamingo is a very hot pink, which is not truly found in nature while the flamingos in the background appear to be more natural in appearance. One aspect that numerous scientists and artists found helpful was that John James Audubon incorporated both sexes of the particular species of the bird, as well as the different stages of development whenever Audubon had the chance. In the drawings he would put numbers, like a one or a two by the different birds in the drawing and at the bottom it would either say “male” or “female” and the stage of development in which the bird was in. Also, inn his prints where there is just one bird, he would often times draw that bird when it was mating season in order to capture features and characteristics of the bird that throughout the rest of the year was not seen. This included different color plumage or special changes in shapes of the beaks. John James Audubon wanted to make sure that the population was able to recognize and respect the birds in which he spent time working on in his drawings and sketches. In addition to that, he wanted to create the most detailed and expansive collection of the birds that could be found in North America. In a sense, this is a bit ironic, because of how he rushed his work at the very end, but then again, he was running out of time- for his life and for deadlines for his work. “Eskimo dog,” on the other hand, does not appear to be rushed and has great detail, like his work in the beginning. However, unlike his first works, a person viewing “Eskimo dog” can see the maturity and experience of John James Audubon in this piece of work. It is not really basic and simple. It is quite detailed and as mentioned earlier, has a very detailed background that tells a story. The two Native Americans look like they are hitching something, maybe a cot, to a young horse. There is smoke coming out from the tent, which either suggests that food is being cooked, or it is for heat. However, the trees in the background on the hills are very green, so the fire is probably cooking a meal. Plus, the dogs, the main subject of the drawing, have bones in front of them, like the received scraps after helping the Native Americans on a hunt. The dogs appear to look quite content, like they just finished their meal and one of them looks like he or she is about to take a nap while the other one keeps watch. Maybe they will switch after a bit so the other dog can take a nap as well. They act just like a wolf pack does; they look out and care for each other to make sure nothing harms them. John James Audubon must have admired these eskimoux dogs, because there is such detail in the print and every time one looks at it, there is something else that appears that one did not notice before. “Equimoux dog” can be observed and critiqued from a naturalistic point of view. Naturalism was seventeenth century painter Bellori ‘s (Minor 77) forte. He felt that an artist would find the best example in nature and perfect the object of the work through work of his or her own. (Minor 77) John James Audubon looked to nature and did pick out the best specimens for his “Viviparous Quadrupeds” series and “Birds of America” series. One thing an observer would find in Audubon’s work is attention to detail, which proves that he desired his work to be as perfect as possible. Another approach to viewing John James Audubon’s work is through the theory created by Immanuel Kant. Immanuel Kant, a philosopher, not an artist, coined the phrase aesthetic. (Minor, 93) The term aesthetic means pleasing, or creating a positive and serene emotion for the individual looking at a particular piece of art. A majority of John James Audubon’s work is aestheicly pleasing. Seeing colorful birds chirping and flying across a page is quite soothing. However, some of John James Audubon’s work is not so pleasing. In his hawk drawings, the scene is often after a hunt, so there is a dead rodent in the beaks of the birds and splatters of blood on the ground. This is not as pleasing as the “tern” print or the “Eskimo dog” print or the print of the moose calf’s face. In conclusion, John James Audubon’s work has been popular for this long and will continue to be recognized fro centuries to come because the man was so passionate about his work. He spent is entire life on his main project, “Birds of America.” Before coming to America, he did not know a single word of the English language, but he did not let that stand in the way of his dream. His drawing of the “Eskimo dog” shows how much he respected the land, cultures and species found in North America because he put such work and detail into that print. John James Audubon’s name and work is recognized all over the world. He has left a wonderful legacy behind that will forever be regarded as revolutionary and unique. Whether the viewer believes in aesthetically pleasing work or in naturalism, it can be concluded that John James Audubon is the man who has made it easier for people, whether they be birdwatchers or scientists, to identify birds and quadrupeds inhabiting North America.
Works Cited Keulemans. Classic Nature Prints. 25 Nov. 2006 Minor, Vernon Hyde. Art History’s History. Prentice Hall Inc.: Upper Saddle Rhodes, Richard. John James Audubon The Making of An American. Vintage Books:
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