Past Exhibition

John James Audubon

This painting depicts several birds perched on ice with a mountainous backdrop. Different species of auk and guillemot birds are positioned on the icy shoreline, with a vast expanse of water and towering, snow-capped mountains in the background. The icy environment includes large chunks of ice on which the birds are resting or swimming nearby. Each bird has unique identifying features such as different body plumage patterns and beak shapes. The sky is a pale blue.
Robert Havell, Jr., Black-throated Guillemot, Nobbed-billed Auk, Curled-Crested Auk and Horned-billed Guillemot, 1838, hand-colored engraving and aquatint on Whatman wove paper, Gift of Mrs. Walter B. James, 1945.8.402

Details

  • Dates

    -

  • Locations

    West Building, Ground Floor, Central Gallery (3,500 sq. ft.)
This painting depicts several birds perched on ice with a mountainous backdrop. Different species of auk and guillemot birds are positioned on the icy shoreline, with a vast expanse of water and towering, snow-capped mountains in the background. The icy environment includes large chunks of ice on which the birds are resting or swimming nearby. Each bird has unique identifying features such as different body plumage patterns and beak shapes. The sky is a pale blue.
Robert Havell, Jr., Black-throated Guillemot, Nobbed-billed Auk, Curled-Crested Auk and Horned-billed Guillemot, 1838, hand-colored engraving and aquatint on Whatman wove paper, Gift of Mrs. Walter B. James, 1945.8.402

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.

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