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April Issue 2007
Mouse House, Inc. in Columbia, SC, Offers Works by John James Audubon
Mouse
House, Inc., in Columbia, SC's, downtown neighborhood of historic
Elmwood Park, is pleased to present more than twenty-three conservational
framed, original hand-colored Audubon lithographs from 1840-71
during the Columbia Festival of the Arts. The show will run from
Apr. 26 through May 6, 2007.
John James Audubon was born in Haiti on Apr. 26, 1785 as the illegitimate son of Jean Audubon, a French sea captain, and his Creole mistress Jeanne Rabine. His father took him to Nantes, France to be raised by his wife, Anne Moynet. He was formally adopted in 1789 and educated in Paris where he studied under the painter Jacques-Louis David. In 1803, using a false passport provided by his father, Audubon traveled to the United States to avoid the Napoleonic Wars.
Audubon married Lucy Bakewell in 1808, oversaw the family farm near Philadelphia and began to study his natural surroundings, especially the nesting habits of the local birds. Business failure led him to pursue his natural studies and paintings in earnest. He sailed down the Mississippi River determined to find and paint all the birds in North America.
Audubon arrived in New Orleans in the spring of 1821 and settled for a time at Oakley Plantation in order to teach drawing to the owner's daughter while his wife Lucy worked as a tutor. During this time, Audubon studied, shot, and painted birds meticulously set in their natural environment. These depictions were in stark contrast to the unnatural and stiff representations of his contemporaries. Unfortunately, he found no publisher for his images in North America.
In 1826, he set sail with his portfolio to Liverpool and was instantly successful raising enough money to publish Birds of America. The edition was engraved in aquatint by Robert Havell, Jr. using plates measuring approximately 39" x 26'. These volumes are now known as the Double Elephant Folios and are regarded by many as the "greatest picture book" ever produced.
Audubon followed this first publishing success with a companion work, Ornithological Biographies, life histories of each species written with Scottish ornithologist William MacGillivray. Later, smaller editions enjoyed popular production between 1831-1893, consisting of five volumes of biographies and four volumes of bird portraits. In 1842, Audubon published a popular edition of Birds of America in the United States. From these valuable books come the images to be on display at Mouse House during this exhibition.
During these years, Audubon continued making expeditions in North America. He bought an estate on the Hudson River now known as Audubon Park. His final work was on mammals, the Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, which was written with Rev. John Bachman of Charleston, SC. It was completed by his sons and son-in-law and published after his death on Jan. 27, 1851.
Of the images to be displayed at Mouse House, for this exhibition are the Barn Owl, Cliff Swallow, Song Finch, Henslow's Bunting, Tell-tale Snipe, Bank Swallow, Sooty Tern, Clarke's Nutcracker, Solitary Vireo, Hudson's Bay Titmouse, Wood Pewee Flycatcher, and several attractive Warblers.
Mouse House will also be showing larger Audubon reproductions; a variety of other 18th and 19th century antiquarian prints including botanicals, fish, and shells; and the contemporary fiber arts of Susan Lenz.
For more information check our SC Commercial
Gallery listings, call 803/254-0842 or e-mail at (mouse_house@prodigy.net).
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