In an exciting partnership with Oak Spring Garden Foundation (OSGF), in Upperville, VA, the National Sporting Library & Museum (NSLM) is organizing Intrepid Audubon: The Birds of America to be held at the NSLM’s Museum. The exhibition and accompanying catalogue will explore the creation of the seminal publication, The Birds of America (1827–1838), by John James Audubon. The self-taught artist’s expeditions as a hunter-naturalist and ornithologist to document 489 North American bird species, created a stunning avian catalogue. Although he is acknowledged today to have been a controversial figure and enslaver, Audubon’s work remains foundational to wildlife art and the bird conservation movement.
The centerpiece of the exhibition will be a bound first edition of his groundbreaking series, The Birds of America, a four-volume double-elephant folio of hand-colored engravings—generously on loan for the first time to another institution by the
Oak Spring Garden Foundation.
These magnificent books with 39” tall spines will be displayed opened to images that highlight: Audubon as a bold and polarizing figure; the endangerment and extinction of several bird species; the artistic significance of the engravings; and the quality of the printing process. Visitors will have the opportunity to virtually explore all the images contained in the volumes through an interactive display. An original copper printing plate from the first edition will also be on loan from OSGF, and a vibrant and dynamic selection of framed engravings from The Birds of America will be on loan from the National Museum of Wildlife, Jackson, WY, and The Morgan D. Delaney and Osborne Phinizy Mackie Collection.
This exhibition is made possible through the generosity of Oak Spring Garden Foundation and Mary and Don Shockey.
Artwork: John James Audubon (American, 1785–1851)
Virginian Partridge, 1830
hand-colored engraving
23 3/8 x 36 inches
Gift of the 2014 Collectors Circle, National Museum of Wildlife Art
