John James Audubon (AMERICAN, 1785–1851)
Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis), Study for Havell pl. 26 (ca. 1825; watercolor, graphite, pastel, gouache and black ink with scraping and selective glazing on paper, laid on card, 29¾x21¼)
Selected by Roberta J.M. Olson, Ph.D., Curator of Drawings, The New-York Historical Society
Seven vivid birds perch with outstretched wings, bobbing heads and chattering beaks. The only parrot species native to the United States, the Carolina parakeet became extinct less than 100 years after John James Audubon portrayed it. Roberta J.M. Olson, Curator of Drawings at The New-York Historical Society, says, “Audubon’s brilliant depiction best preserves the vivacity of the species.” Audubon made this dynamic watercolor for The Birds of America, a book that revolutionized ornithological illustration. No one before him had portrayed birds at life-size,…
