John James Audubon Giclée Fine Art Prints 1 of 2

"The Birds of America" stands out as a remarkable and sometimes contentious publication - an artistic and scientific vision fueled by an unyielding fascination with nature’s details. Upon its release between 1827 and 1838, readers encountered 435 hand-colored engravings depicting 1,065 birds across 489 species, all captured in vibrant poses that diverged from accepted norms of the time. These large double-elephant folio illustrations were at once a tribute to field observation and a demonstration of the artist’s penchant for dramatic composition. Many naturalists initially balked at his tendency to endow birds with anthropomorphic attitudes, but what emerged from this technique was an unmistakable pulse of vitality.

That same sense of life resonates in the wire armatures he used, positioning recently killed specimens to stand as though alive. This intervention - simultaneously macabre and revolutionary - set the artist apart, highlighting a drive to present birds not as static images but as beings in motion. Within this groundbreaking artistry lay the seeds of controversy. Yet it also solidified his reputation as someone unafraid to reshape how avian subjects might be illustrated and viewed. That enduring impact rests not merely on aesthetics, but on a profound dialogue between the wild and its portrayal on paper.

He was born on 26 April 1785 in Les Cayes, Santo Domingo - known today as Haiti. Circumstance led to an unconventional upbringing, for he was the illegitimate son of a French sea captain and a servant, and later orphaned through his mother’s death. When he arrived in France around 1789, he fell under the care of his father and stepmother, eventually settling near Nantes. There, amid the instruction in fencing, geography, and mathematics, he found a broader classroom outdoors. He gathered eggs, nests, and natural curiosities, sketching them with fledgling skill. Although he claimed to have studied under Jacques-Louis David, no evidence substantiates that detail, leaving his formal artistic instruction largely a matter of conjecture.

By 1803, his father sent him to America to manage the Mill Grove farm near Philadelphia. Commerce, it turned out, was not his calling. His commitment to exploring local fauna eclipsed any inclination for business, and the farm soon fell into disrepair. The resulting loss instigated a sequence of early financial setbacks that were compounded by his roving habits. Yet it was also during his time at Mill Grove that he encountered Lucy Bakewell, whom he married in 1808. She would prove a formidable partner, supporting the family through teaching and governess positions while he disappeared for stretches in pursuit of elusive species to sketch and document.

After meeting Alexander Wilson, the creator of "American Ornithology," he remained somewhat adrift. A decade passed before he resolved to publish his own depictions of birds. In the interim, he found himself arrested for debt in 1819, resorting to chalk portraits for income, which he supplemented with taxidermy work in Cincinnati. By 1820, his forays into the wilderness became more purposeful, aided by a young collaborator, Joseph Mason, who specialized in illustrating plants and insects. During the early 1820s, the artist dabbled in oil painting under the itinerant John Stein’s guidance but soon discovered that watercolors better suited his penchant for capturing immediate observations.

Seeking backing for his ambitions, he took his portfolio to Philadelphia in 1824 and showed it at the Academy of Natural Sciences, though no substantial sponsorship followed. The city, then partial to Wilson’s already revered work, offered little encouragement. Unfazed, he pivoted to England in 1826, introducing his drawings to an enthusiastic public at Liverpool’s Royal Institution. Subscribers and investors soon surfaced, and Robert Havell & Son, a London engraving firm, provided the technical prowess needed to convert his watercolors into the extraordinary prints that formed "The Birds of America."

While these monumental plates were being produced, he also wrote about his observations in "Ornithological Biography," published from 1831 to 1839. The text brought him further acclaim, exposing a broad audience to his adventures, encounters with President Andrew Jackson, and his reflections on wildlife. Spurred on by that success, he embarked on two more ventures - a reduced lithographic version of "The Birds of America" from 1839 to 1843 and "The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America," completed between 1845 and 1848 with contributions by his son, John Woodhouse, and the Reverend John Bachman. These publications proved commercially promising, allowing him financial stability in his later years.

He spent his final chapter at Minnie's Land, a property overlooking the Hudson River in what is now upper Manhattan. There, in relative contentment, he lived out his remaining days. He died on 27 January 1851, leaving behind a complex legacy that merged scientific exactness with a theatrical verve. His images - forceful and at times unsettling - remain singular testaments to a restless imagination intent on bringing birds vividly into human view. The tension between documentary discipline and expressive flourishes shaped a singular approach to both art and nature, an approach that continues to fascinate any observer who turns the pages of his grand folios.