John James Audubon: The Birds of America

October 14, 1984 – March 10, 1985
West Building, Ground Floor, Central Gallery (3,500 sq. ft.)

Robert Havell after John James Audubon, *Black-throated Guillemot, Nobbed-billed Auk, Curled-Crested Auk and Horned-billed Guillemot*, 1838, hand-colored etching and aquatint on Whatman paper, *Birds of America*, no. 402, Gift of Mrs. Walter B. James, 1945.8.402

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

Overview: 52 hand-colored engravings, a selection from the Gallery's double-elephant folio, a rare complete unbound set, were presented in period maple frames. Also shown were 2 watercolors from Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and the copper plate for Scarlet Ibis, lent by the National Museum of American History.

Organization: The exhibition was coordinated by Carlotta J. Owens. This was one of a group of small exhibitions of graphics, Nineteenth-Century America on Paper: Four Exhibitions, opening at the same time. Gaillard Ravenel and Mark Leithauser designed the exhibition and Gordon Anson designed the lighting.

Attendance: 340,029

Brochure: John James Audubon: The Birds of America, by Carlotta J. Owens. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1984.

Audubon, John James: American, 1785 - 1851