RELATED LINKS
Art and Photography 
Biography and History 

Audubon: Early Drawings

Harvard University Press, December 2008

250 pp. Hardcover with slipcase.

$125.00

From the Publisher:

In 1805, Jean Jacques Audubon was a twenty-year-old itinerant Frenchman of ignoble birth and indifferent education who had fled revolutionary violence in Haiti and then France to take refuge in frontier America. Ten years later, John James Audubon was an American citizen, entrepreneur, and family man whose fervent desire to "become acquainted with nature" had led him to reinvent himself as a naturalist and artist whose study of birds would soon earn him international acclaim. The drawings he made during this crucial decade - sold to Audubon’s friend and patron Edward Harris to help fund his masterwork The Birds of America, and now held by the Houghton Library and the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University - are published together here for the first time in large format and full color. In these 116 portraits of species collected in America and in Europe we see Audubon inventing his ingenious methods of posing and depicting his subjects, and we trace his development into a scientist and an artist who could proudly sign his artworks "drawn from Nature." The drawings also serve as a record of the birds found in Europe and the Eastern United States in the early nineteenth century, some now rare or extinct.

The drawings are enhanced by an essay on the sources of Audubon’s art by his biographer, Richard Rhodes; transcription of Audubon’s own annotations to the drawings, including information on when and where the specimens were collected; ornithological commentary by Scott V. Edwards, along with reflections on Audubon as scientist; and an account of the history of the Harris collection by Leslie A. Morris.

Splendid in their own right, these drawings also illuminate the self-invention of one of the most important figures in American natural history. They will delight all those interested in American art, nature, birds, and the life and times of John James Audubon.

DETAILS:

116 color illustrations, 14" x 11" Oversize hardcover housed in a slipcase.

Winner of the 2008 PINE (Printing Industries of New England) Pinnacle Award

With a history of the Harris collection by Leslie A. Morris; an essay on the sources of Audubon’s art by Richard Rhodes; transcription of Audubon’s own annotations to the drawings; and an account of Audubon the Scientist with ornithological commentary by Scott V. Edwards, Curator of Birds at the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Oblong in linen slipcase.

Lars Jonsson’s Birds: Paintings from a Near Horizon

Princeton University Press, January 2009

190 pp. Hardcover.

$55.00

Lars Jonsson is widely regarded as one of the greatest bird artists of all time--no other painter of his generation captures the true look and feel of birds in the wild so beautifully. This magnificently illustrated volume collects Jonsson's most recent paintings and drawings, many published here for the first time, offering a fascinating retrospective of the artist's work from the turn of the new century to today. Lars Jonsson's Birds features 150 full-color, museum-quality reproductions of works that Jonsson painted in the field and that reflect his favorite theme of birds in a wide landscape, such as gulls, waders, ducks, and raptors.

This sumptuous book includes essays by the acclaimed sculptor Kent Ullberg and museum curator Adam Harris, as well as commentaries by Jonsson and pages from his sketchbooks that provide rare insights into Jonsson's incomparable artistry.

• Offers an invaluable retrospective of the artist's most recent work
• Features 150 full-color bird paintings
• Includes commentaries by Jonsson, pages from his sketchbooks, and more
• Provides rare insights into Jonsson's art and methods

A retrospective of his recent works, reproducing 150 paintings in color, with commentary by the artist and essays on his work by Adam Duncan Harris, Kent Ullberg, and Fredrick Sjöberg.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

LARS JONSSON is an internationally renowned artist and ornithologist. He is the author of Birds and Light and Birds of Europe with North Africa and the Middle East (both Princeton), as well as Bird Island. He lives and paints on southern Gotland in Sweden

REVIEWS:

"Everything that Lars applies to paper or canvas is accurate. The work may be loose or precise, but it always reflects an intimate knowledge of the subject and its situation. By presenting several points of view, the well-written text achieves a balance so that readers may enjoy Lars's art on multiple levels. As a bird artist, I particularly appreciate the sound defense of the painting of birds as art." --John Sill, wildlife artist

DETAILS:

192 pp.; 10" x 12"; 150 color illustrations

Contact us to order this item.

Ordering information

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST OR E-MAIL LIST

Send an e-mail to customerservice@buteobooks.com with the subject Mailing List and let us know if you would like to receive our monthly e-newsletters and/or our print catalogs, which are mailed every four months.

CONTACT US:
Phone: 434-263-8671;
Toll-free: 800-722-2460
Fax: 434-263-4842;
e-mail: allen@buteobooks.com
Hours: 9 to 5 (EST) Monday - Friday