In the Footsteps of Audubon

In the Footsteps of Audubon
Author: Denis Clavreul
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2022-11-01
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0691241554

An artist’s uniquely personal journey across America In the nineteenth century, ornithologist and painter John James Audubon set out to create a complete pictorial record of North American birdlife, traveling from Louisiana and the Florida Keys to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the cliffs of the Yellowstone River. The resulting work, The Birds of America, stands as a monumental achievement in American art. Over a period of sixteen years, recording his own journey in journals and hundreds of original paintings, renowned French watercolorist Denis Clavreul followed in the naturalist’s footsteps. In the Footsteps of Audubon brings together some 250 of Clavreul’s stunning watercolors along with illuminating selections from Audubon’s journals and several of his paintings. With pencil and brush in hand, Clavreul turns his naturalist’s eye and painterly skill to the landscapes that Audubon encountered on his travels, and to the animals and plants that Audubon depicted in his art. A passionate ornithologist, Clavreul sketches birds in the wild with rare dexterity, bringing them vividly to life on the page. He documents his encounters along the way with people who live with nature, many of whom are passionately engaged in preserving it, drawing on his insights as both a biologist and an artist to connect the past, present, and future. A spellbinding, richly evocative journey, In the Footsteps of Audubon is an invitation to see the natural world as Audubon saw it—and to see with new eyes what it has become today.

The Birds of America

The Birds of America
Author: John James Audubon
Publisher: White Lion Publishing
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: Artists
ISBN: 9780565093396

'Birds of America' is one of the best known natural history books ever produced and also one of the most valuable - a complete set sold at auction in December 2010 for 7.3 million, which is a world record.

Audubon at Sea

Audubon at Sea
Author: Christoph Irmscher
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 371
Release: 2022-08-19
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 022675667X

"John James Audubon's paintings of birds are as familiar as they are beautiful. But even among his admirers, many may be surprised to learn that Audubon was a gifted writer. In this one-of-a-kind anthology, Christoph Irmscher and Richard J. King have curated a collection of Audubon's coastal and sea writing, which represent Audubon's most compelling and evocative depictions of the natural world and early nineteenth-century American life. The collection is geographically diverse, bringing to light the variety of people and wildlife Audubon met or observed, pulling from the massive Ornithological Biography (1831-1839) as well as the "Autobiography" and journals. The editors supplement the selections with an instructive introduction and powerful coda, section headnotes, explanatory notes, and an appendix linking Audubon's species to current taxonomy and geographic ranges. The book is lavishly illustrated as well. There is much more in Audubon at Sea than descriptions of birds: we have stories of life aboard ship, of travel in early America and Audubon's work habits, the origins of iconic paintings, and, in the end, the carefully drawn commentary on a flawed and, at best, ambiguous hero"--

This Strange Wilderness

This Strange Wilderness
Author: Nancy Plain
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 143
Release: 2015
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0803284012

Birds were "the objects of my greatest delight," wrote John James Audubon (1785-1851), founder of modern ornithology and one of the world's greatest bird painters. His masterpiece, The Birds of America depicts almost five hundred North American bird species, each image--lifelike and life size--rendered in vibrant color. Audubon was also an explorer, a woodsman, a hunter, an entertaining and prolific writer, and an energetic self-promoter. Through talent and dogged determination, he rose from backwoods obscurity to international fame. In This Strange Wilderness, award-winning author Nancy Plain brings together the amazing story of this American icon's career and the beautiful images that are his legacy. Before Audubon, no one had seen, drawn, or written so much about the animals of this largely uncharted young country. Aware that the wilderness and its wildlife were changing even as he watched, Audubon remained committed almost to the end of his life "to search out the things which have been hidden since the creation of this wondrous world." This Strange Wilderness details his art and writing, transporting the reader back to the frontiers of early nineteenth-century America.

A Country No More

A Country No More
Author: Krista Elrick
Publisher: George F Thompson Publishing
Total Pages:
Release: 2020-10-15
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9781938086809

The first artist to retrace the steps and revisit the landscapes of John James Audubon, from the East Coast, to the Gulf Coast, to the Heartland and Rocky Mountains.

Audubon

Audubon
Author: Shirley Streshinsky
Publisher: Turner
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013-09-03
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9781630262747

The compelling story of a legendary artist and an eternal American hero. In 1803, an eighteen-year-old West Indies-born Frenchman arrived in New York City, fleeing Napoleon's conscription. His work would become inextricably entwined with the new world he so proudly adopted in his motto "America, my country." Inspired by the primeval forests and the vast flocks of birds that thrived in them, Audubon spent the next several decades of his life painstakingly documenting the birds of the American wilderness. He traveled the back roads and bayous, searching out and studying the birds that were his pastime and passion. He spent long, silent hours observing them in the wild. He was no amateur ornithologist; rather, he drew his birds from life, and his work always carried the line "drawn from nature by J. J. Audubon." Accompanied by his wife, Lucy, and their two sons, Audubon was able to challenge the world's expectations and win. The story of this loving family's long, profound struggle is as poignant and as relevant today as it was in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Combining meticulous scholarship with the dramatic life story of a naturalist and pioneer, Audubon reexamines the artist's journals and letters to tell the story of Audubon's quest, the origins of the American spirit, and the sacrifice that resulted in one of the world's greatest bodies of art: The Birds of America.

In the Footsteps of Audubon

In the Footsteps of Audubon
Author: Denis Clavreul
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2022-11-01
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0691237689

An artist’s uniquely personal journey across Audubon’s America In the nineteenth century, ornithologist and painter John James Audubon set out to create a complete pictorial record of North American birdlife, traveling from Louisiana and the Florida Keys to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the cliffs of the Yellowstone River. The resulting work, The Birds of America, stands as a monumental achievement in American art. Over a period of sixteen years, recording his own journey in journals and hundreds of original paintings, renowned French watercolorist Denis Clavreul followed in the legendary naturalist’s footsteps. In the Footsteps of Audubon brings together some 250 of Clavreul’s stunning watercolors along with illuminating selections from Audubon’s journals and several of his paintings. With pencil and brush in hand, Clavreul turns his naturalist’s eye and painterly skill to the landscapes that Audubon encountered on his travels, and to the animals and plants that Audubon depicted in his art. A passionate ornithologist, Clavreul sketches birds in the wild with rare dexterity, bringing them vividly to life on the page. He documents his encounters along the way with people who live with nature, many of whom are passionately engaged in preserving it, drawing on his insights as both a biologist and an artist to connect the past, present, and future. A spellbinding, richly evocative journey, In the Footsteps of Audubon is an invitation to see the natural world as Audubon saw it—and to see with new eyes what it has become today.

The Complete Angler

The Complete Angler
Author: James Prosek
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2010-11-16
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0061951579

James Prosek has been called "the Audubon of the fishing world" by the New York Times. A passionate fisherman and talented artist from a young age, he published two illustrated books on fish and fishing while still an undergraduate at Yale. After winning a traveling fellowship to follow in the footsteps of Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler became his obsession. He was fascinated by Walton, a humble man who won the friendship of kings, and he was intrigued by the book's philosophies concerning the timelessness and immortality that could be achieved by fishing. Although Walton was sixty when The Compleat Angler was published and Prosek only twenty when he set off to visit England, they each had traits in common: a love of fishing and an extraordinary ability to make friends. This is the story of a young man's pilgrimage through England, fishing the waters that are now privately held. Along with wonderful stories about good times, great fishing, and fine eating, this trip becomes an exploration of Waltonian ideals: how to live with humor, wisdom, contentment, and simplicity. The original watercolors complementing the text are wonderful. Like Walton's book, The Complete Angler is not about fishing but about life. Or rather, it is about fishing—but fishing is life.