Audubon’s Final Flight

As a brilliant catalog of America’s feathered wildlife and a portrait of the bold visionary who trekked a vast and wild nation, “Audubon’s Aviary: The Final Flight (Part III of The Complete Flock)” at the New-York Historical Society is a knockout.This third installment is the final in a trio of exhibits of John James Audubon’s watercolor illustrations. Entering the gallery, its ceilings soaring upward, is to step into an aviary as herons strut, finches flutter, and quails bob about, all with kaleidoscopic effect.The museum’s collection of Audubon watercolor models for the double-elephant-folio print edition of “The Birds of America,” is shown in all its beauty. The landmark publication popularized ornithology for an enthusiastic public.In “Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga), Havell pl. 316; study of neck and head,” 1822; 1836, a watercolor of two birds perched on a tree stump—eyes darting, necks twisting and craning atop their elongated bodies—each feather is patiently rendered with fine, precise lines, but without stiffness.“Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla), Havell plate no. 320,” c. 1825, is lovely for its sense of isolated space and tranquility. As sandpipers wade among the shallows, ripples rendered in thin bands of gray and green, faint pencil lines suggest a distant bit of land.Painted in Louisiana, “Green Heron (Butorides virescens), Study for Havell pl. 333,” ca. 1821–22, shows an amusing and stumpy heron, beak open, rushing forward to gulp down a luna moth. The moth, painted with pale blue-greens and edged in red, is perched like a spaceship just come down from the skies.Several less finished sheets are especially wonderful and strange. In these works, the absence of naturalistic settings exaggerates the birds’ isolation on the page, and their bright colors and arrested poses reminds one of Asian art. Sparkling hummingbirds, rosy finches, and strutting quails stand out against blank backgrounds with faintly penciled outlines and light notations.In “American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber), Study for Havell pl. 431,” 1838, a stilt-legged contortionist bends down to fit himself onto the page. Strutting, flat-footed, and coral-colored, he casts long, skinny shadows behind him as his neck curves and lowers.The massive figure of a pelican entirely dominates “Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis), Havell plate no. 251,” 1832. The bird stands on his right leg, his left leg tucked up against his underbelly, and looks out to the harbor under an overcast sky, his bucket of beak open in a shout.“Audubon’s Aviary: The Final Flight (Part III of The Complete Flock),” on view through May 10th at New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY, 212-873-3400, www.nyhistory.orgMore information about Robert Edward Bullock’s work can be found at bullockonline.com

Audubon’s Final Flight

Audubon’s Final Flight

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