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John James Audubon: The Watercolors for The Birds of America

October 3, 1993 – January 2, 1994
East Building, Upper Level, North Bridge

Installation view of John James Audubon: The Watercolors for The Birds of America, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gallery Archives

This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery.

Overview: This exhibition featured 84 watercolors, 10 drawings, 2 prints, a copper plate, and a book relating to Audubon's famous print series. This was the first traveling exhibition of these works since they were acquired from the artist's widow by the New-York Historical Society in 1863. For their preservation, the selection of watercolors on display was rotated during the tour. A group of early watercolors in the collection of the Houghton Library at Harvard University was also shown at the National Gallery of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by the New-York Historical Society. Holly Hotchner, director of the museum of the New-York Historical Society, directed the exhibition. Co-curators were Theodore E. Stebbins Jr., John Moors Cabot curator of American painting at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Annette Blaugrund, Andrew W. Mellon senior curator of paintings, drawings, and sculpture at the New-York Historical Society. Coordinating curator at the National Gallery of Art was Nicolai Cikovsky Jr., curator of American and British paintings.

Sponsor: The exhibition was made possible by NationsBank.

Attendance: 168,805

Catalog: John James Audubon: The Watercolors for The Birds of America, edited by Annette Blaugrund and Theodore E. Stebbins Jr. New York: Villard Books, 1993.

Brochure: John James Audubon: The Watercolors for The Birds of America, by Charles Brock. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1993.

Other Venues: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, February 9–April 10, 1994
Art Institute of Chicago, May 7–July 17, 1994
Detroit Institute of Arts, August 13–October 23, 1994
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 17, 1994–January 29, 1995
Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, February 19–April 17, 1995
New-York Historical Society, May 3–August 6, 1995
Seattle Art Museum, October 12, 1995–January 7, 1996
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, February 4–April 14, 1996

Audubon, John James
American, 1785 - 1851