The American White Pelican is one of Audubon's iconic masterpieces. It is one of only three nocturnal scenes in Birds of America. The bright white plumage emerges brilliantly and with heightened clarity from the dusky landscape. The bird, depicted in actual life size, completely fills and dominates the two dimensions of the "double elephant" folio. Audubon's obsessive rendering of the finest details and his dramatic use of light projects this extraordinary specimen into the third dimension, where we can almost feel the downy blond crest feathers at the back of the head and the intricate topography of the vascular pouch of the bill.

Audubon found the White Pelican in an unusually wide range of habitats and climates, prompting one of his most impassioned and visionary calls for conservation: [It is] "on account of the constantly increasing numbers of our hostile species that these creatures are urged to proceed towards wild and uninhabited parts of the world where they find that security... necessary to enable them to rear their innocent progeny."

Framing your Audubons

About John James Audubon

The 435 paintings in Audubon's Birds of America constitute the most important achievement of ornithological art.

Audubon combined artistic and scientific talent to produce images that are as beautiful as they are important for their recording of carefully observed ornithological detail. His unprecedented use of richly rendered natural environmental detail created striking contexts for his gracefully composed birds — all of which are presented in actual life size. Each image has the feel of a snapshot that captures a living moment.

Audubon's passion for ornithological discovery and observation led him to explore large swaths of 1820s and 1830s America, especially throughout the South and the Ohio River valley. In 1826 he brought his enormous folio of large-scale paintings to London where, from 1827 — 1838, they were engraved by Robert Havell & Son and hand-colored in an edition of approximately 200. King George IV of England, King Charles I of France, Daniel Webster and many important museums and institutions of higher learning were among the subscribers to this original publication.

Each Perfect Recreation™ is made from an exceptionally well-preserved Havell aquatint with rich, original hand color.

If you'd like to know a lot more about Audubon, there are two wonderful biographies available at Amazon.com:
Click here to buy John James Audubon: The Making of an American
Click here to buy Under a Wild Sky: Making of The Birds of America