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| John James Audubon |
| 1785-1851 |
| American Artist |
| Audubon was born in Haiti. Early on, he was raised by his stepmother, in Nantes, France, and took a lively interest in birds, nature, drawing, and music. In 1803, at the age of 18, he was sent to America, and lived on the family-owned estate at Mill Grove, near Philadelphia, where he hunted, studied and drew birds. Audubon spent more than a decade in business, eventually traveling down the Ohio River to western Kentucky - then the frontier - and setting up a dry-goods store in Henderson. He continued to draw birds as a hobby, amassing an impressive portfolio. Audubon was quite successful in business for a while, but hard times hit. With no other prospects, Audubon set off on his epic quest to depict America's avifauna, with nothing but his gun, artist's materials, and a young assistant. In 1826 he sailed with his partly finished collection to England. "The American Woodsman" was literally an overnight success. His life-size, highly dramatic bird portraits, along with his embellished descriptions of wilderness life, hit just the right note at the height of the Continent's Romantic Era. |
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