John James Audubon, born on April 26, 1875, had nothing to do with the Audubon Society. He did not found it, it was not his idea, nor was he ever a member of it. His only connection with the society was that his wife tutored one of the founding members, and that her pupil thought it would be a good idea to name it in Audubon’s honor since he was America’s foremost ornithologist, or studier of birds.
Birds of America
The work which gave Audubon this distinction was the four-volume Birds of America, published in 1827. For 14 years Audubon and his hired team of hunters traveled from Labrador to Florida collecting specimens, discovering 25 species and several subspecies in the process. The result was 435 life-size, hand-colored prints depicting 497 species of birds.
A few critics have called Audubon’s work unrealistic, due to the fact that he wired dead birds into their poses instead of working with live subjects, but most agree that the paintings are quite accurate. Audubon went to great pains preparing and studying the specimens, sometimes devoting four fifteen-hour days to each one. He painted each of the birds against a background resembling its typical environment. Natural foliage, nests, eggs, juveniles, and sometimes even predators are depicted. Both male and female are usually portrayed, and they are frequently shown in action — flying, hunting, and courting.
However, Audubon made full use of artistic license as well as scientific accuracy. He sometimes changed slight details for a specific purpose, placing similar species in the same painting for comparison, altering the pose of a large bird to fit his life-size works, arranging subjects to give views of every side of the species, and taking a little bit of liberty with the composition for drama and artistic appeal. Audubon primarily worked with watercolors, although he often used a touch of pastel to give softness to feathers. The result was a collection of paintings appealing not only to lovers of birds, but lovers of art as well.
The American Woodsman
After a failed attempt to find a publisher for his work in America, Audubon traveled to England in 1826. The people there enjoyed a more leisurely lifestyle and a more romantic view of nature than the Americans did at that time, so after a few exhibitions Audubon’s work quickly became popular, and Audubon himself was hailed as “the American woodsman.” Although Audubon continued to paint and write, Birds of America proved to be his most lasting work, the standard by which bird artists are judged even to this day.
“Its primary purpose is to interest the little child in, and to make him acquainted with, those feathered friends he is most likely to see. Because there is no method of approach to the child mind equal to the story, this method of conveying information has been adopted. So far as I am aware the book is unique in this respect. In its preparation an earnest effort has been made to present as far as possible the important facts regarding the appearance, habits and characteristics of our feathered neighbors. It is intended to be at once a story book and an authoritative handbook. While it is intended for little children, it is hoped that children of larger growth may find in it much of both interest and helpfulness.” The Burgess Bird Book for Children is available as a free download.