Audubon's Aviary: The Original Watercolors for The Birds of America

Celebrate the original watercolor masterpieces from the landmark book The Birds of America with this stunning collection of 474 paintings by John James “Audubon” himself.Featuring over 1,000 birds, this oversized bird coffee table book is the perfect gift for bird lovers, collectors, and natural history enthusiasts.The Birds of America is a monumental classic, but it has never been explored like this before. We are familiar with the prints engraved by Robert Havell Jr., but this important new volume presents the original watercolor masterpieces by John James “Audubon” himself—and tells the story behind their creation with fresh insights and engaging quotes from his writings. These powerful paintings—all newly photographed using state-of-the-art techniques—possess a startling immediacy, vibrancy, and fluidity that link natural history, art, and a respect for the environment. These watercolors transmit Audubon’s devotion to his craft with their inscriptions and layers of media wrought with a miniaturist’s attention to detail and their revolutionary compositions, which for the first time in history depicted all the birds life-size. Audubon is considered America’s first great watercolorist, introducing innovative approaches developed over a lifetime of study. Even judged alongside today’s technology, his dramatic tableaux remain some of the most spectacular natural history documents and visually arresting works of art ever produced. Read more