ART HERITAGE PROGRAMGrand Junction, CO

©2008

John JamesAUDUBON

1785 – 1851French-American Painter

Copyright 4/2008. Property of the Mesa County Valley School District 51, Grand Junction, CO. This article was created for the express use of the Art Heritage Program for educational purposes only. No part may be copied in part or in whole without permission.

Certain materials are included under the fair use exemption of the U.S. Copyright Law and have been prepared according to the multimedia fair use guidelines and are restricted from further use.

The information contained within this artist unit is a compilation of information gleaned from several sources, some unknown. If credit has not been properly given, please contact our office so this can be corrected.

John James AUDUBON

The slides and other materials for this program were paid for by a 1997 grant from the Grand Valley

Audubon Society, PO Box 1211, Grand Junction, CO. 81502 Funding to create this unit was also

contributed by the Public Service Company and Fruita Monument High School.

Jean Jaques Audubon (1785 – 1851) was a French-American painter who

created life-size paintings of American birds in their habitat engaging in daily routines.

His work helped clarify bird names and identify birds that had not been

described or named before.

He tried to paint the male, female, and young of a species because the

plumage and shapes were often different for each.

His field notes and observations helped add to the understanding of

birds, their routines, and their habitat.

1. PORTRAIT OF AUDUBON: 1826: By John Syme:

2. Male Wild Turkey (Plate I).1827. 26” x 39”.

(Close –up) of Male Wild Turkey (Plate I).1827. 26” x 39”.

3. BALD EAGLE: Plate 6: (Birds of America)

4. GOLDEN EAGLE: (watercolor, graphite and pencil. 38 x 25 ½ in.) New York Historical Society.)

5. GREAT HORNED OWL: 1814-male, 1821-female; 35 1/8 x 24 7/8 inches

6. LITTLE SCREECH OWL (MOTTLED OWL): Plate 97, 1829). Hand colored, aquatint etching.

The Birds of America double elephant folio

7. 7. MOCKINGBIRD: 29 3/4 x 20 7/8 inches

8. BLUE JAY: Plate 70: 1825:

9. Robin

10. CLIFF SWALLOW: (1827-38, Hand-colored aquatint, etching and line engraving, 25 7/8 inches x 36 1/2 inches)

11. SANDHILL CRANE: (Caption on print: Hooping Crane. The painting from which this print was made was done in Boston during the winter of 1832-33, using a living crane as the model. Audubon's background is intended to be of Florida sandhills.)

12. IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER: (Painted in Louisiana 1825.)

13. CAROLINA PARAKEET: 1827-38, Hand-colored aquatint, etching and line engraving,  25 7/8 inches x 36 1/2 inches

1.PASSENGER PIGEON: 26 1/4 x 18 1/4 inches, 1824. 1.PASSENGER PIGEON: 26 1/4 x 18 1/4 inches, 1824. 1.PASSENGER PIGEON: 26 1/4 x 18 1/4 inches, 1824.

14. PASSENGER PIGEON: 26 1/4 x 18 1/4 inches, 1824.

•ARCTIC HARE: (1841)

15. ARCTIC HARE: (1841)

Audubon left us a priceless legacy about what our country and its

wildlife were like in the late 1700s.

He explored frontier areas of America. He painted and wrote about birds that no longer exist.

His journals, letters, and books contain information about the people

he met, his thoughts and his observations of nature.