Tag Archives: Natural History Art

An Obsession with Natural History and Victorian Collecting Crazes

Spanning the majority of the 19th century, the Victorian era was marked by a rise [...]

Collecting Guide: Oppenheimer Editions Audubon Prints

Since its inception in 1996, our publishing company Oppenheimer Editions has partnered with major institutions [...]

Exploring Early Methods of Specimen Collection in Natural History Art

Have you ever wondered where the reference material for antique wildlife prints and paintings came [...]

The Alchemy of Nature – Using Gold in Natural History Art

While found less frequently in natural history art than other genres, gold nonetheless makes an [...]

The Hudson River School Painters

Recognized as the first distinctively American art movement, the Hudson River School comprised a group [...]

The Language of Paper – Deciphering the Secrets of Antique Paper through Its Material Qualities

Often indications of a paper’s place of origin, method of manufacture, and time of creation [...]

How to Distinguish Between the Various Editions of Besler’s ‘Garden of Eichstätt’

A practical guide to understanding and identifying the different editions of Besler’s folio through paper [...]

Casualties of Fashion: The Contentious History of Plume Plundering

Though the idea of ornamenting oneself with a bird carcass may be a bit deterring [...]

The Birds of Paradise: One of Nature’s Most Elusive, Ostentatious, and Promiscuous Families

The Introduction of Birds-of-Paradise to the Western Imagination

Investigating Audubon’s 50 Best Watercolors

The Oppenheimer Editions Fine Art Prints of Audubon's Watercolors for The Birds of America

Interspecific Encounters in Audubon’s Birds of America

Picturing Combat between Different Species in Audubon's Prints

Plant Mutations in the Botanical Prints of Pierre-Joseph Redouté

A consideration of the artistic rendering of the Tulip Breaking Virus, and the phenomenon of [...]

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The Articulation of Macabre Bird Habits in John Gould’s Prints

Exposing the unsavory tendencies of the Common Cuckoo and Great Grey Shrike in Gould’s Birds [...]

Audubon’s Miniature Folio – The Octavo Edition of Birds of America

A survey of the technical translation of Audubon’s work from the monumental to the miniature.

A Modernist Approach to Understanding a Selection of Prints from Audubon’s Birds of America

A Discussion of Spatial and Perspectival Distortion, Challenging the Confines of the Print Perimeter, and [...]

What are the differences between an Audubon Havell engraving and Bien Lithograph?

How to differentiate between John James Audubon's two Double-Elephant folio Editions of The Birds of [...]

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The East Asian Influence in Audubon’s Art

A consideration of the increasingly globalized trade networks of the 19th century and their impact [...]

The Controversy Surrounding Audubon’s ‘Bird of Washington’

A consideration of the complex and convoluted history of Audubon's unidentified rapacious species

Recent Acquisitions – Original Paintings by Louis Agassiz Fuertes

A beautiful selection of original watercolor paintings by renowned artist Louis Agassiz Fuertes has recently [...]

The Historical Significance of Botanical Illustration

A consideration of the motives behind picturing plants including the functional uses and theoretical implications [...]

The Inclusion of Foreign Avian Species in Gould’s Birds of Europe

When browsing the contents of John Gould’s compendious Birds of Europe, the majority of the [...]

Was Alexander Wilson’s Art Precursive of the Modern Field Guide?

An examination of the stylistic qualities of Wilson’s art in relation to modern standards of [...]

The Interrelation between Natural History Art and Porcelain Ornamentation

The decorative use of Redouté’s botanical illustrations on Sèvres porcelain

Discovering Audubon’s Animals in The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America

The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America

The Evolution of Audubon’s White-headed Eagle

The confluence of creative mechanisms behind Alexander Wilson and John James Audubon’s depictions of the [...]

Visualizing the Human Impact on the Natural World in Audubon’s Quadrupeds

Unlike Audubon’s Birds of America, where human presence and impact on nature are infrequently illustrated, [...]

Audubon’s Osprey

Audubon’s Osprey or Fish Hawk frequently makes its way into the top tier of Audubon’s [...]

Part 2: The Influence of Scientific Modalities of Perception and Representation in Merian’s Artwork

An examination of Merian’s artwork in light of 17th-century scientific standards of perception and illustration

A Comparative Analysis of the Bird Prints of Prideaux John Selby and His Contemporaries

An exploration of the creative confluences and stylistic continuities between the artwork of Selby and [...]

A Comparative Analysis of Poiteau and Brookshaw’s Pomological Prints

A Consideration of the Aesthetic, Technical, and Didactic Components of Poiteau and Brookshaw’s Depictions of [...]