LAST WILDERNESS JOURNEY The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America A Gallery Guide for Kids, Families, and Visitors of All Ages ILLUSTRATED BY DRAKE MIDDLE SCHOOL SIXTH GRADERS
GALLERY GUIDE
Audubon’s
WHO
John James Audubon Born April 26th, 1785 in Santo Domingo (now Haiti) Died January 27th, 1851 in New York. J. J. Audubon spent most of his childhood in France, and when he was 18, he moved to America. It took him a long time to practice his drawing and make a living through his art. Later in his life, he became very successful. He was married to Lucy Bakewell Audubon, a teacher. They had two sons, John Woodhouse and Victor Gifford. His sons later helped John James with his work and completed the three volumes of quadrupeds after his death.
J. J. Audubon
Many people accompanied Audubon on his journeys. Edward Harris was a friend of Audubon and helped fund his explorations. He kept a diary as they travelled, and you can see his diary from the quadruped journey in this exhibition. John Bachman and Maria Martin were married and lived in Charleston, South Carolina. John was a minister and Maria was a painter. John collaborated with John James on The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America by helping to write the text for the book. Maria Martin painted many of the prints of Audubon’s artworks.
Lucy Bakewell
Printmakers and Watercolorists To create such large volumes of books long ago required many other artists. Audubon needed printmakers and watercolorists, like Maria Martin, to create multiples of his artwork for his books.
John Bachman
WHAT A viviparous quadruped is a four-legged animal that does not lay eggs, for example a rabbit. Many of us have viviparous quadrupeds as pets. Can you think of an example?
J.J. Audubon recorded birds and quadrupeds that he found while exploring America in the early 19th century. To create his artwork, he drew animals in their natural habitats and collected specimens to bring back to his studio so that he could observe them closely. All of his artwork was created observationally; he drew and painted exactly what he saw.
J.J. Audubon explored many places in America to create his books about birds and quadrupeds. His journeys took many months. He primarily traveled down the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri rivers and would take boats to get to the states he needed to explore. Have you ever explored outdoors? Share an example with your friends and family. Where were you and what did you observe?
WHERE
In 1826, John James travelled to England to meet with printers to create his first book: Birds of America. The book was printed in sections of five prints, and people who wanted the book subscribed to receive the newest prints. In 1838, a smaller and less expensive version of the book was published and became a best seller.
Do you subscribe to something that interests you? Today it is common to subscribe to YouTube channels, Instagram feeds, and other content on our technology to receive new information. The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America was John James’ last project. It included three volumes, or books. His sons continued to work on the project after his death, and the final volume was completed in 1854.
Before cameras, scientific illustrations like Audubon’s artworks were the only way many could see images of these animals and plants. In the 19th century, art and science were not as separate as they are today. Scientists used art to record and study the world around them.
Audubon included details of human life into his quadruped illustrations. Can you find examples of these details in this exhibition?
WHY
Today, we appreciate Audubon’s images aesthetically, for their beauty and detail, for their history about Audubon’s journey, and to see examples of what these plants and animals looked like before humans settled most of North America.
HOW
Audubon prints are created from his original artworks. When he was finished with his artwork in pastel, graphite, and watercolor, Audubon would give the artwork to a printer to be turned into a print. All of the birds were drawn to life size. Only some of the quadrupeds could be life size; for example, the bison could not fit on a book page, but a mouse could!
This was in the 19th century, before computers were invented. Making Audubon’s artworks into prints was a long process. The printer redrew the image by hand onto a printing plate. The birds were reproduced using etching and aquatint, and the quadrupeds were reproduced using lithography. After the print was created from the printing plate, a watercolorist would follow Audubon’s original image to carefully add the colors and details from his original painting. Often the watercolorist used a proof as a guide to add the watercolor. An artist proof is an example of a perfect print that the artist approves of before the final series of reproductions are created.
ADVOCATE! Do you want to help animals and nature? You can be an advocate, or a person who stands up for something they think is important. Look for the Audubon gallery card to find information about protecting our planet and suggested resources to learn about nature conservation.
Pastel, Graphite and Watercolor
A type of art used to create multiples or a series of an image. A common type of printmaking that many people use at home are rubber stamps. There are many other methods artists use to create prints, such as etching, woodcut and linoleum printmaking, and lithography.
Audubon mainly used pastel, graphite, and watercolor for his original artworks. A pastel is like a crayon, but is softer and often feels like a piece of chalk. Graphite can be found in a stick form, and feels similar to a pastel. Watercolor is a type of painting where an artist adds pigment, or color, to water to create paint.
Etching and Aquatint
Scientific Illustration
Using a thin metal plate coated with a waxlike substance to be resistant to acid, the artist draws lines for the image with a needle-like tool. The plate is then dipped into acid. The acid dissolves some of the metal wherever the artist drew lines. The artist then applies ink, which fills into these lines, wipes the surface of the plate clean, and rolls the plate through a printing press which transfers the ink from the etched lines onto a piece of paper. Aquatint is a similar process to etching, but instead of a needle, the artist uses powdered rosin, a material that comes from coniferous plants like pine trees, to create an effect that looks like shading.
A drawing created to accurately depict something for scientific study. Often different animals or objects are grouped together to show many examples of what they can look like. Scientific illustrations were very important before cameras and computers so scientists could record and share what they were studying. Scientific illustrations are still used today! For example, some images in textbooks are scientific illustrations.
Lithography The artist uses a stone and wax crayons or wax ink to draw the image. Then, using different chemicals, the artist prepares the stone so that when they roll printing ink onto the stone’s surface, the ink only goes where the artist drew with the wax crayons or ink. The artist does not need to wipe away any ink like in an etching.
VOCABULARY
Printmaking
JCSM.AUBURN.EDU
About the Artists The illustrations in this gallery guide were created by Ms. Bernie’s sixth grade art students at Drake Middle School in Auburn, Alabama. JCSM partners with Drake Middle School to provide outreach lessons about art on view in their art classes. Students learned about Audubon and studied his work to practice their watercolor and observational drawing skills.