August 7, 2024
European Art

‘Audubon as Artist’ shows his debt to classical European painters


John James Audubon was more than a 19th-century self-taught ornithologist with a plan to depict bird species across America.

In “Audubon as Artist: A New Look at ‘The Birds of America,’” author Roberta J.M. Olson argues that Audubon’s lively and lifelike bird paintings drew their inspiration from classical European artists. 

Why We Wrote This

Looking beyond an artist’s brushstrokes can shed fresh light on his inspiration. A new book digs deep into John James Audubon’s fascination with classical European art, which influenced his celebrated bird paintings.

“He felt comfortable invoking Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt or Van Dyck in his writings and in his watercolor models for ‘The Birds,’” Olson writes. 

Audubon’s career culminated in the publication of the four-volume “Birds of America” published between 1827 and 1838.

He was a dramatist at heart, and an abiding quality of his bird paintings is their vivid sense of theater. Even in pastoral scenes like his study of two magnolia warblers, the little birds vibrate with expectancy, each obviously poised for flight. 

Nature for Audubon always had this kinetic quality; for him, movement was an essential proof of life.

Keeping up with America’s vast array of ornithological wonders has always been a group effort, and even the audacious Audubon couldn’t do it alone. “Audubon as Artist” is a timely reminder of his debt to many others.

When John James Audubon immigrated to the United States from France in 1803, his timing was fortuitous. That same year, the Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of U.S. territory, deepening national curiosity about what lay in the vastness.

Audubon (1785-1851) answered that interest with “The Birds of America,” a mammoth pictorial survey of ornithological wildlife from the continent. People back in Europe were also intrigued, and Audubon capitalized on the endeavor’s broader appeal.   

His project, which included 435 prints based on his watercolor paintings, depended partly on wealthy patrons across the Atlantic who were willing to buy the costly volumes of his “Birds of America” series, too. He also drew on the technical skill of printer Robert Havell Jr. in London to make the prints we now consider masterpieces.

Why We Wrote This

Looking beyond an artist’s brushstrokes can shed fresh light on his inspiration. A new book digs deep into John James Audubon’s fascination with classical European art, which influenced his celebrated bird paintings.

In “Audubon as Artist: A New Look at ‘The Birds of America,’” Roberta J.M. Olson argues that Audubon drew more from Europe than financial and technical support. He also gained inspiration from European artists such as Jacques-Louis David. 

“He felt comfortable invoking Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt or Van Dyck in his writings and in his watercolor models for ‘The Birds,’” Olson adds. Audubon’s career culminated in the publication of the four-volume “Birds of America” between 1827 and 1838.

New-York Historical Society

Audubon’s study of magnolia warblers was painted in 1829. The watercolor served as a guide for an engraving in “The Birds of America.”

Much has been written about Audubon and his work, but no one has charted his possible artistic influences as thoroughly as Olson, who has studied his art as a curator at the New-York Historical Society, where Audubon’s “Birds of America” watercolors are housed. 

One likely reason that Audubon’s relationship with other artists has been neglected is that he’s been so celebrated for his singularity. In rejecting the static conventions of 19th-century bird art to create wildlife scenes that are pageants of motion, Audubon seemed more intent on breaking tradition than extending it.



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