The entire book is available online nearly 200 years later. "John James Audubon's Birds of America is a portal into the natural world. Printed between 1827 and 1838, it contains 435 life-size watercolors of North American birds (Havell edition), all reproduced from and-engraved plates, and is considered to be the archetype of wildlife illustration." Each print is also available as a free high-resolution download!
https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america I will say that these illustrations were created before there was an understanding of endangered species and Audubon hunted all these birds, stuffed them, and then posed them for his illustrations! Audubon described flocks of passenger pigeons that have since been hunted to extinction. Even though in his time he didn't have the awareness of the collapse in bird population, decline of scenic beauty, or loss of wilderness, a few years later environmentalists used his images as a resource to educate people about these threats. Thankfully there was a group of women who were Boston socialites that helped put plumes out of fashion. http://www.npr.org/sections/npr-history-dept/2015/07/15/422860307/hats-off-to-women-who-saved-the-birds Love this exhibit as well! https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/birds
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Yael Kupiec-DarI'm a painter, designer, and educator. This blog is where you'll find news on my latest exhibitions, projects, creative pursuits, the art I've been looking at, and educational videos and resources that I've created or that have inspired me. Archives
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