Jean Jacque Rabin was born on April 26th The infant was born to Jean Audubon, a French merchant and his Creole mistress, Jeanne Rabin. Would anyone guess this infant would become the world renowned American naturalist and artist of his own time? Raised and educated in France, he changed his name in 1803 when he emigrated to America. John James Audubon was avoiding participation in another French war.
As a young man, John James Audubon was regarded as handsome and outgoing in personality. He fenced, danced, learned to ride and play violin and flute. Most of all he loved walking and wandering in the woods. When he found bird eggs or nests he would bring them home and draw them. Thus began his collections. Even as a child, Audubon was drawn to notice birds. He felt connected with birds somehow. His father influenced this fascination with birds and offered more knowledge about the behavior and patterns belonging to the seasons. Once in America young Audubon became acquainted with the neighbor who would become his wife, Lucy Bakewell. Their two daughters did not survive infancy but their two sons grew to be strong supporters of his work as was his wife.
John James Audubon had a family to support. He established a trading business operating out of Kentucky but in 1820 dropped that vocation and responded to his true calling of being an artist and a naturalist. After years of travel and attempts at running a business with his brother, he dedicated his time to painting and illustrating birds.
Audubon’s art was extremely important to him and he always was learning and improving his techniques. He burned his old works and redid them to ensure they would be better. He wasn’t the first person to paint birds or to strive to paint all the birds of America, that was Alexander Wilson. Then again, Audubon’s work was a great deal more detailed. Developing his own techniques and utilizing sketches and watercolors, Audubon created life-size images with natural habitat for background. He made use of specimens he collected while in the wilderness and used wires to hold them in the position desired for that painting. Wilson’s paintings were more stiff and formal. The fine grade of shot that Audubon used resulted in less damage to the birds when they were harvested. As his work demanded more from his time he hired hunters to bring in particular specimens to augment his collection.
In 1826 he visited England with the hope of getting his drawings published, by the year after he had obtained sufficient subscribers to enable him to start with the publication of his Birds of America. When this gargantuan project finally completed in 1838 this masterpiece consisted of 435 colored plates, containing 1055 figures of life-size birds. It represented 14 years of work along with a life-long experience and dedication to ornithology and art.
Audubon relentlessly advertised The Birds of America and sold subscriptions to pay for its publication. The self-taught artist and naturalist was scorned at first by ornithologists, but has since then become famous for his paintings. Never before had so many birds been illustrated with natural backgrounds and poses. In 1886 a bird preservation organization took his name and eventually evolved into the National Audubon Society.
Though the specimen collection methods during Audubon’s time were lethal for the birds, the lessons learned have lasted beyond his lifetime. During his southern travels Audubon identified 39 new species of birds and always kept detailed journals of his wildlife observations as an authentic naturalist. Without a doubt if he had access to modern tools for viewing birds and wildlife our story might be entirely different. Sometimes I think Audubon would have really appreciated access to a Swarovski spotting scope.
John James Audubon was the earliest naturalist who was known to band birds in order to understand their movements. By tying yarn to Eastern Phoebes Audubon discovered these birds returned to the identical nesting locations annually. Audubon’s life is indeed fascinating and full of trials and struggles of the young artist attempting to feed his family. In fact his life story reads just like a pioneer adventure tale. Even today the works of John James Audubon are treasured and testaments of the artist’s skills and talents.
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