==== ==== A replica of the complete John James Audubon's Birds of America. Includes the full text, color plates, figures and bird calls is available at: www.abirdshome.com/audubon ==== ====
Audubon, John James. (April 1785 to January 1851). Audobon is one of the world's most famous wildlife artists, and is especially well known for his bird prints. He was born in Haiti, educated in France, then moved to America where he became interested in nature. He did an experiment on birds by tying yarn around their legs, proving that they came back to the exact same nests the next year... this was the first ever bird-tagging study. He started doing bird art the same year (1803). By 1819, he was increasingly focused on wildlife art. He traveled down the Mississippi river with a gun, assistant and paintbox, determined to paint every bird in America (although another artist had already done this). The method Audubon used was to shoot a bird, mount it on wire then paint it. He often shot more than 100 birds in a day, and loved shooting rare birds. Later in his life he became a strong supporter of wildlife conservation, and spoke strongly against the depletion of nature in America. He had to travel to England to get his bird art published, because the British had superior printing skills and a great interest in romantic ideas about America including its wildlife. The first version, called "Birds of America", published in the late 1930's, is probably the greatest picture book ever published and was 26 by 36 inches so that most of the birds could be illustrated (by hand-colored aquatint) life size. This extremely important book was followed by a book to go alongside it, called "Ornithological Biographies" (by Scottish ornithologist William MacGillivray), which gave written details of each bird. It was not until 1942 that "Birds of America" was published in America.
To see Audobon's wildlife art (and buy it if you wish as posters), and learn more about Audobon and other wildlife artists, see the Audubon page on the definitive Wildlife-Art-Guide.com
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==== ==== A replica of the complete John James Audubon's Birds of America. Includes the full text, color plates, figures and bird calls is available at: www.abirdshome.com/audubon ==== ====