Audubon’s Birds of America Exhibit Now Open at the Houston Museum of Natural Science

A new exhibition at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) will examine the artistry and legacy of one of the world’s rarest, most coveted and biggest books.

Published as a series between 1827 and 1838, Birds of America by John James Audubon (1785-1851) was a landmark work which achieved international renown due to the epic scale of the project and the book’s spectacular, life-sized ornithological illustrations.

Audubon’s Birds of America, opening March 8 at HMNS, is a touring exhibition from National Museums Scotland and will showcase 46 prints from their collection. Displaying a rare unbound collection, this exhibition will be a unique opportunity to see so much of Audubon’s work in one place.

The four volumes which make up Birds of America consist of 435 hand-colored prints. The book was the culmination of Audubon’s ambition to paint every bird species in North America, and is celebrated for its extraordinarily animated, dramatic and detailed illustrations. In order to accommodate life-sized birds, the book was printed on paper which was almost 1m long. Even then, some larger species had to be posed in contorted positions in order to fit them onto the page.

Where his predecessors and contemporaries illustrated birds looking stiff and unnatural, Audubon was pioneering in his depiction of scenes from nature, pinning birds into realistic poses he had observed in life and painting on the spot.

He is traditionally celebrated as the quintessential American woodsman, adventurer and naturalist, who identified over 20 species new to science. His paintings of the natural world are some of the most famous in the history of art and natural sciences.

Audubon’s story, however, is full of contradiction and controversy, and the exhibition will look at both the legend which built up around him and the more complex, problematic realities. He profited from the ownership of enslaved people and showed disdain towards the abolitionist movement, aspects of his story which have been overlooked until recently. His scientific standing is also disputed, with accusations of completely fabricating some species and he certainly made errors in his identification of birds.

National Museums Scotland’s touring exhibition will also explore Audubon’s links with the scientific and artistic community in late-Enlightenment Edinburgh, where the process of publishing the book began. He visited Edinburgh six times, including research visits to what is now the National Museum of Scotland itself. The exhibition will bring the story up to the present day, looking at the conservation status of some of the species featured in Birds of America.

“Audubon’s Birds of America will transport our visitors to the vibrant world of John James Audubon and the wildlife of America as he personally witnessed in the early 1800s. Visitors will explore his greatest achievements and the enduring complexities of his legacy, through the lens of his ‘Great Work’ – the rarest, most beautiful, and most valuable volumes ever produced,” said HMNS President and CEO, Joel A. Bartsch. “This exhibition presents a rare opportunity to experience the awe-inspiring details, vibrantly colored images, and life-sized renderings that Audubon singlehandedly willed into being through his unbridled creativity, matchless ambition, and indefatigable efforts.”

Audubon’s Birds of America will be on display beginning March 8. For ticket prices or more information, visit www.hmns.org or call (713) 639-4629.

Photos courtesy of HMNS