All-A-Flutter

The entrancing story and career of John James Audubon comes to life at the New-York Historical Society with a three-part exhibition series that showcases the watercolors and prints that made Audubon infamous.  Born in the late 18th century in Haiti, having fled the Haitian revolution, then grew up in France only to flee to America from the French Revolution.  Discovering the beauty of the natural wonders of America, Audubon spent most of the rest of his life capturing the birds of America.  

The genius behind Audubon was the development of a subscription format to sell his prints to wealthy customers, willing to pay a hefty sum to receive a selection of prints, called fascicles.  The fascicles comprised of five prints, one large print, one medium print, and three small prints.  The prints could have been collected on a subscription basis, some collectors could've purchased complete books known as elephant folios.  There are only about 120 remaining elephant folios known to exist.  

Although Audubon unfortunately died in poor economic conditions, his wife having to sell his watercolors to the New-York Historical Society during the Civil War, his legacy as artistic innovator, bird enthusiast, and true American, is a wonderful and inspiring story.