Artist Biographies

JOHN AUDUBON (1785 - 1851)

John Audubon, born in France in 1785, was the most highly regarded wildlife illustrator of his time.

Audubon lived for a while in France and studied under the artist Jacques Louis David. At the age of eighteen, however, he moved to America with his wife and settled in Louisville, Kentucky, where he earned his living as a hunter, taxidermist and drawing master.

Using watercolors, Audubon painted all his subjects life size and in their natural habitats. The drawings were exact and precise and created at an amazing speed. His combined interest in art and ornithology resulted in a book illustrating the birds of North America. Unable to find an American publisher, he went to England. "The Birds of North America, from Original Drawings" was published in England by Robert Havel and Sons and ranks among the most famous books of all time. It contained 1,065 figures and 435 plates.

Two other books followed, but because of Audubon's loss of eyesight, were finished only with the help of his two sons, Woodhouse and Victor.

The New York Historical Society today houses many of Audubon's original drawings.

Copyright (c) 1997 Bruce McGaw Graphics. All rights reserved.