April 13–September 2, 2012
Gallery 18
Bird lovers from across the country come to Lake Erie’s southern shore each May to witness the migration of songbirds and other species. Located at the intersection of two major migratory flyways, the region provides an excellent stopover habitat for songbirds as they travel north from Central America and the Caribbean. The birds congregate along the forested lakeshore to build up energy to cross the expanse of the Great Lake to their North American breeding grounds.
The annual migration and the local festival that celebrates it as the “Biggest Week in American Birding” are the inspiration for the new exhibition, For the Birds.
Birds have appeared in works of art throughout human history, and artists continue to be fascinated by these feathered creatures, depicting them for their symbolic significance, as scientific specimens, for their expressive qualities, and simply for their beauty.
For the Birds features The Garden of Eden, a 17th-century oil painting by Isaak van Oosten (Flemish, 1613–1631) that contains at least 45 species of birds, and an assembly of prints and books from the Museum’s permanent collections supplemented by loans from local collectors. Included are hand-colored etchings by American artist John James Audubon (1785–1851), hand-colored lithographs by British naturalist John Gould (1804–1881), etchings by the impressionist painter and sporting artist Frank W. Benson (1862–1951), Japanese wood block prints by Ohara Koson (1877–1945) and books by Raoul Dufy (French, 1877–1953) and Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973).
Audubon is represented by nine prints: four from the Museum’s collection and five on loan from local collectors.
“Audubon sketched birds from childhood,” said Paula Reich, curatorial projects manager. “In the 1820s and 1830s, he traveled America with the intention of sketching every species of bird and painted them life-sized, often in dramatic poses against backgrounds of their typical habitats—both innovations in ornithological illustration at the time. He concluded with 435 paintings of 489 species. The paintings were made into etchings with hand-coloring and issued in sets to subscribers.”
Japanese watercolors and prints in the exhibition show a reverence for nature, and often evoke symbolic associations, while the books by modern artists depict in a spontaneous, expressive way and are inspired by centuries of nature history texts and illustrations.
FREE Hands-on Activities
- Drawing in the Sculpture Garden
August 3: 7–9 p.m.
FREE Public Tours
- Bird’s Eye View
August 3: 7 & 8 p.m.
August 4 and 5: 2 p.m.
FREE Family Center Themed Activities
- Week of May 20: Watercolors
- Week of May 27: Birds of a Feather
- Week of August 26: Backyard Birds