February Issue 2002
The Audubon Gallery in Charleston, SC, Offers Audubon's Fifty Best Bird Images
The Audubon Gallery in Charleston, SC, cordially invites you to visit the exhibit and sale of The National Touring Exhibition of Audubon's Fifty Best, the facsimile edition of John James Audubon's Birds of America engravings from Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History, on view from Feb. 1-28, 2002.
In a very rare and unprecedented offering, fifty of the most historically important ornithological prints from Chicago's renowned Field Museum's prized John James Audubon collection have been reproduced in a new facsimile edition. Audubon's Fifty Best combines one of the finest Audubon folios in existence with history-making advances in the printing industry. The prints are embarking on a two-year national tour of museums and galleries to showcase the stunning collection made possible by a reproduction process using the highest resolution digital imaging technology.
The Field Museum's copy of the Birds of America is without question one of the finest folios in the world. Experts hail its color as unsurpassed and it is one of only two sets to exist that has an additional 13 prints that were originally engraved on the "wrong" copperplates. The engraver, Havell, corrected these discrepancies by overprinting the misplaced birds on the prints where they should have appeared in the first place. One of these composites, the Baltimore Oriole, is included in this facsimile edition.
Ben Williams, Librarian at The Field Museum said, "This is the best, most precise, true and accurate edition based on my 20-plus years of studying historic prints. The quality is dead-on and collectors will be astonished to see anything of this quality, because it hasn't been available until now. In the current wave of technology, the results that I am seeing are revolutionary."
Audubon's Fifty Best facsimile edition utilizes the cutting-edge technology of digital Iris printing. To make one print using the Iris process takes approximately one hour, compared to standard offset press printers that can turn out more than one thousand prints per hour. The giclée printing method is the ideal medium for production of this Edition because it is being printed on Somerset Satin Radiant White 330 Gsm 100 percent rag acid-free archival paper, which is very similar to paper used in the original engravings.
For collectors and Audubon enthusiasts who have always wanted to own an original engraving but couldn't afford to, we think this is an investment opportunity not to be overlooked since only 150 sets were made.
The Audubon Gallery specializes in the golden era of natural history (1700-1900), emphasizing John James Audubon, one of Charleston's most highly regarded artists. Most notable is Audubon's tour-de-force, Birds of America, as well as other highly acclaimed natural history art. The Audubon Gallery is a sportsman's paradise with a wide selection of antique wildfowl decoys, collectables and nostalgic paintings and prints of days afield and favorite hunting dogs. The Audubon Gallery also offers museum-quality framing, and conservation services for works on paper.
For more information check our SC Commercial
Gallery listings or call Polly Holden or Burton Moore in the gallery
at 843/853-1100 or on the web at (http://www.audubongallery.com).
Mailing Address: Carolina Arts, P.O. Drawer
427, Bonneau, SC 29431
Telephone, Answering Machine and FAX: 843/825-3408
E-Mail: carolinart@aol.com
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Carolina Arts
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