American Flamingo

1838

Robert Havell, Jr.

Artist, American, born England, 1793 - 1878

A dark pink flamingo stands on a shallow outcropping, craning its neck down toward a pool of pale blue water in this vertical print. Shown in profile facing our left, the bird has a curving tan, orange, and black bill, and the eye we can see is bright blue. One charcoal-gray feather tucks under its wing, but the rest of the feathers and its legs are deep rose pink. One webbed foot steps forward, toward the edge of the low, rocky outcropping at the water’s edge. Muted green growth covers the ground, and the exposed edge of the rock is brown. Pale blue water extends back to the horizon, which comes about a third of the way up the composition. Eight pale pink and white flamingos, small in scale in the distance, walk or stand near sandbars in the placid waterway. The sky has a narrow band of light blue along the horizon, and the rest of the background is white. Across the top of the page, nine anatomical drawings, seeming to be lightly sketched, float against the white background. They are details of the bird’s beak, tongue, and foot. Each is numbered from one to nine. In the upper left corner of the paper, text reads, “No. 87.” and in the upper right, “Plate CCCCXXXI.” An inscription in the center margin below the printed image reads, “America Flamingo, PHOENICOPTERUS RUBERT, Linn. Old Male.” To the left is a numbered key: “1. Profile view of Bill at its greatest extension. 2. Superior front view of upper Mandible 3. Interior front view of upper Mandible. 4. Interior front view of lower Mandible. 5. Interior front view of lower Mandible with the Tongue in.” It continues to the right: “6. Profile view of Tongue. 7. Superior front view of Tongue. 8. Inferior front view of Tongue. 9. Perpendicular front view of the foot fully expanded.” Smaller text under the lower left corner of the printed image reads, “Drawn from Nature by J. J. Audubon, F.R.S. F.L.S.” And to the right: “Engraved. Printed and Coloured by Rob. Havell. 1838.”

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    hand-colored engraving and aquatint on Whatman wove paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Mrs. Walter B. James

  • Dimensions

    image: 87.63 × 58.58 cm (34 1/2 × 23 1/16 in.)
    plate: 97 x 65 cm (38 3/16 x 25 9/16 in.)
    sheet: 101.3 x 68.3 cm (39 7/8 x 26 7/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1945.8.431

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Birds of America, no. 431


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Mrs. Walter B. James, NY; gift to NGA 1945

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2005

  • Audubon's Dream Realized: Selections from "The Birds of America". The National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2005.

2016

  • Three Centuries of American Prints: from the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington; National Gallery in Prague, Prague 1; Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, Mexico City; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, 2016 - 2017, no. 21.

Bibliography

1827

  • Audubon, John James. The Birds of America. London: 1827-1838.

2016

  • National Gallery of Art. Highlights from the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Washington, 2016: 198, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q65083866


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