Hi Sandy and I, lamenting where to go bird watching today, finally decided, based on a previous Cobird posts, to journey to the Longmont Museum and see the Audubon exhibit. This exhibition has over 40 of the original prints. Having seen most of Audubon art in books, we were taken back by how much livelier the original prints appeared. The show includes some of his best works; Wild Turkey, Barn Swallow, Peregrine Falcon ripping open Green-winged Teal, a pair of Red-tailed Hawks fighting in flight over possession of a rabbit. Arguably, one of his best prints is of the Mockingbirds defending their nest from a rattlesnake crawling up a tree, ready to eat one of the young.
Some have commented that Audubon exaggerated the images for effect. To some degree this may be true, but then few birders have ever spent as much time in the field as Audubon did, which enabled him to observe and depict the dramatic in nature. Few artists have paid as much attention to detail as Audubon, as demonstrated in the print of the Raven. A feature of the Corvidae family, including jays, magpies, crows, and ravens, is that the front of the leg is scaled and the back of the leg is smooth. This effect is clearly shown on Audubon's print of the raven. I've never seen this feature illustrated in any current field guide. The opportunity to see Audubon's original work in our back yard rarely occurs, so this exhibition at the Longmont Museum is really special. Bob Righter Denver CO Sent from my iPad -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
