Audubon precisely poses his Long-billed Curlews with bills curving in opposite directions to achieve a graceful and elegant composition. The male in the foreground is on the verge of digging for a shrimp or crab while the female regards us with care.

The light orange plumage seems to reflect the orange sunset that glows above Charleston, Fort Pinckney and the harbor.

Audubon wrote, "The Long-billed Curlew is well known by the inhabitants of Charleston ... my friend John Bachman has been at their breeding grounds ... The Long-billed Curlew spends the day in the sea-marshes, from which it returns at the end of night, to the sandy beaches of the sea-shores, where it rests until dawn ... The number of birds that collect in the place selected for their nightly retreat, sometimes amounts to several thousand."

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