Taking Flight! The Birds of John James Audubon from the Collection of the New Bedford Free Public Library

The Audubon Preservation Partnership comprised of The New Bedford Free Public Library & The New Bedford Art Museum is delighted to announce the opening of Taking Flight! The Birds of John James Audubon from the Collection of the New Bedford Free Public Library on Saturday, June 5, 2010 from 4:30 to 6:30 at the Art Museum. The opening reception is preceded by a talk and screening of the Nova documentary, Haunted Cry of a Long Gone Bird with special guest and director, Richard Wheeler. The screening is scheduled for 3:00 P.M. in the Lecture Hall of the New Bedford Free Public Library. The opening and Mr. Wheeler’s presentation are free and open to the public.

Opening Saturday, June 5, 2010 – Taking Flight! The Birds of John James Audubon from the Collection of the New Bedford Free Public Library, Co-Curators Janice Hodson and Louis Doherty through September 11, 2010

Reception 4:30 – 6:30 P.M. - Richard Wheeler talk and screening 3:00 P.M. at the New Bedford Free Public Library

Kathryn V. Dinneen, Director, New Bedford Art Museum notes, “The New Bedford Art Museum is very pleased to present Taking Flight! The Birds of John James Audubon. This is an exhibit of particular significance because it showcases 60 hand-painted, double elephant folio engravings from the New Bedford Free Public Library’s collection of John James Audubon’s “Birds of America”. This collection is one of New Bedford’s very important historical legacies, donated to the library in 1866 by Whaling Merchant James Arnold. In 2009, NBAM and NBFPL joined forces creating the New Bedford Audubon Preservation Partnership with the mission of conserving the library’s Audubon collection and mounting an exhibit of prints from the collection in the summer of 2010.”

Janice Hodson, Co-curator, describes Audubon’s hold on the American imagination, “ The knowledge Audubon gained from his intensive study of wildlife transformed his birds into living creatures with which audiences still identify. Our reaction, living in a world radically changed from Audubon’s, is still similar to that of a French critic who saw some of the first The Birds of America engravings in 1827: ‘A magic power transported us into the forests which for so many years this man of genius has trod. Learned and ignorant alike were astonished at the spectacle. Imagine a landscape wholly American…. On twigs, branches, bits of shore…sport the feathered races… in the size of life, each in its particular attitude, its individualities and peculiarities. It is a real and palpable vision of the New World.’ Audubon’s personal obsession with birds and their habits resulted in a body of work that has become part of America’s visual lexicon.”

Louis Doherty, Co-curator, details the impact of Audubon’s work. “ Some of the pioneering techniques Audubon used in his study of birds within their own habitat were replicated by ornithological groups decades later. For example he tied a silver thread to the legs of the young of a wild bird and observed that they migrated back to the same place the next year. It was 100 years before a Bird Banding Society would repeat his test on a larger scale. “

According to Waldemar H. Fries comprehensive book, The Double Elephant Folio: The Story of Audubon’s Birds of America, James Arnold, Esq. was the 74th of 82 American subscribers to Audubon’s masterpiece, The Birds of America, between 1832 and 1838. Originally the book cost $1,000, which translates to $21,211.75 in 2009 figures. A master salesman, Audubon made sure his subscribers completed their sets by rationing the most desirable birds. Each of the installments contained one of the most coveted large birds (for example the eagle or snowy owls), one medium sized bird and three small. Each of the four, double elephant folio volumes bound by the owner weighed sixty pounds. It is believe Arnold kept and displayed his copy in what is today the office of the Wamsutta Club. The core of Arnold’s 1821 mansion that Audubon knew well is still largely intact at 427 County Street.

James Arnold’s copy of Birds of America was cared for meticulously by him and later the New Bedford Free Public Library for the people of New Bedford. The prints have been rarely exhibited and the hand painted coloring of the birds has remained bright. Funds raised by the Audubon Partnership have enabled master conservator; Robert Hauser to restore damaged corners and mend tears on many of the prints.

Among the prints in Taking Flight! are the Carolina Parrot Red-headed Woodpecker, Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Snowy Owl, Whooping Crane and the Great Auk. In addition the Audubon prints are supplemented by work from important artists of the period and contemporary responses to the Birds of America including pieces by Walton Ford and Andy Warhol

Also opening June 5th downstairs in the Museum is a complimentary exhibition, Birds of the Enlightenment: Predecessors and Contemporaries of J.J. Audubon. New Bedford Art Museum Guest Curator, Tom Puryear has assembled a collection of over 75 wood cuts, hand colored engravings and lithographs from both sides of the Atlantic to bring guests a broad sampling of the publications that preceded and then competed for attention with Audubon’s, majestic images. [Please note a separate full release with images for reproduction on Birds of the Enlightenment will follow]

Joan Backes, Curator, Vault Series will open a new exhibition, Portraits on June 5th. Ms Backes notes, “The portrait has been an art form since ancient times. It has been used to record the likeness, personality, and mood of the sitter. In western art the most famous portrait may be the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. Yet portraiture can be traced to those made in the Vilhonneur grotto in France thought to be 27,000 years old. Portraits were made to document and to save the likeness of historic figures such as kings, queens, emperors, and gods. Artists have also depicted scenes from everyday life showing families, other artists, writers, inventors, etc. Often these works include personal belongings that tell the viewer more about the subject.” [Please note a separate full release on Portraits with images for reproduction will follow]