I had an opportunity to attend a slide lecture last night by Lucy Winters
Durkin, art historian (working at Rochester Institute of Technology) and
great-great-great granddaughter of John James Audubon. The seminar was
titled: John James Audubon: A Bird's-eye View. The lecture and the slides
were fantastic. Mixed with the historical material presented were insights
into the man and his work that had been passed through the generations of
the Audubon family. His drive to complete such a phenominal project was
incredible. Lucy presented images of him, his family and the natural art
painted by him and his family (sons) and his apprentices. She also read
excerpts from the companion nine (I think) volume set of biographies
compiled by McGillivray that reflected accurate scientific descriptions of
the birds portrayed in the 4 volume elephant folios. Some of the
descriptions (especially the one about the ruby-throated hummingbird) were
of a truly romantic quality and reflect the era of production of the works

The seminar was even more interesting because we (Dave McDermitt
attended the seminar with me) were sitting in one section of the room and
chatting with some of the individuals around us prior to the presentation.
During the introductions of the dignitaries present it turned out that we
had been talking to Audubons great-great granddaughter and her sister and
Katy Boynton Payne (the granddaughter of Louis Aggassiz Fuertes).

I should point out here that the purpose of the seminar and reception which
followed (described below) at the Johnson Museum of Art on the Cornell
University Campus in Ithaca NY were to accompany the exhibition at the
museum titled: Of a feather: Audubon to Fuertes. The exhibition runs now
through August 21, 1994 and contains many of Fuertes original artworks as
well as one complete set of Audubons elephant folios. The pages of the
Audubon volumes (all four displayed) are turned weekly so you can see
separate works each time you return to the museum. The museum is FREE and
is open Tues-Sun 8-5 (I believe - I was too excited about the art and
seminar to notice the time accurately).

In addition, Katy Boynton Payne will present a seminar title : Louis
Aggassiz Fuertes: The Person on Sunday Aug 14 at 2 PM at the museum.

I also mentioned a reception last night following the seminar at the
Johnson museum which I attended. I was able to view the art of Fuertes and
Audubon and was thrilled. I had seen a set of the Elephant folios in Key
West at the Audubon home there when I was 13 and had forgotten how large
and truly magnificent the volumes and art are. Each volume when opened
covers 17 sq ft. The volumes were open last night displaying the Great
White Heron (with Key West in the background - appropriate), the Barred Owl
and squirrel (which Lucy explained in her lecture were painted separately
by Audubon and put together by the engraver), a plate of two cormorants (I
did not recognize the names sorry), and the other volume was opened to a
species I can't recall - sorry. There were also several separate plates on
the walls - one I recall clearly is of several Florida (now scrub??) Jay
in a persimmon tree. Lucy pointed out in her lecture that a lot of the
backgrounds were added by several of Audubons apprentices. I have never
paid much attention to the trees, shrubs and yes cities in the backgrounds
before, but plan to in the future.

I had the chance at the reception to personally thank Lucy for the lecture
and ask several questions about the art. As I mentioned, I at one time
lived in Key West and had seen the folios there, including the Great White
Heron with Key West in the background, so I asked if there were any other
cities in the folios. Lucy replied that she recalled Carleston SC (in the
background of a shorebird) and St. Augustine FL. I have not checked my
copies of the Audubon prints yet, anyone out there know of the birds on
these plates or of other plates with cities in the background?? I also
asked whether the individual (hunter with the gun) in the background of the
Snowy egret was Audubon himself (as I had heard) and Lucy was not sure. By
luck, this egret and background were one of Lucy's favorite and she
indicated if she could choose one to have hanging in her dining room this
would be it. Lucy indicated in her lecture that a finished set of folios
cost $1050 approx. I asked how much would they be worth today and she
replied at the last sale in 1992 a set sold for a staggering $4.5 million.
Too bad my relatives did not buy a set (Although I would never sell such a
fantastic display of birds)!!!

A project of the Cornell Library Division of Rare and Manuscript
Collections was also introduced at the reception. The project is an
electronic version of the Johnson exhibit titled an Exhibit Without Walls.
It is available on the WWW at URL: http://rmc-www.library.cornell.edu
between 9AM-5PM M-F (Eastern Time Zone).

As you can see I had a great time last night "birding" with J.J. Audubon
and his family. I will remember this for a long time and plan to go back
to the museum several more times to view the art. If you have questions or
comments please feel free to email me personally...


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WA (Bill) Retzlaff ^
Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research / \
Ph. (607)254-1226 / \
FAX (607)254-1242 / \
email wr13 at cornell.edu / \
/ ------- \
| |

... I have lived temperately, eating little animal food. Vegetables
constitute my principal diet. I double, however, the doctors glass and a
half of vine, and even treble it with a friend. Thomas Jefferson

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