Whooping Crane

Artist John James Audubon (American, 1785 - 1851)

Engraver Robert Havell Jr. (American, 1793 - 1878)

Date1834

Mediumetching and aquatint on paper, hand-colored

DimensionsDouble elephant: 38 1/8 x 25 1/4 inches (96.8 x 64.1 cm)
Frame: 43 5/8 × 33 1/2 × 1 3/8 inches (110.8 × 85.1 × 3.5 cm)

Credit LinePurchase of the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, 1974

Object number91.100.11

ClassificationsPrints

Label TextThe Whooping Crane is the tallest American bird, according to scientific sources. Audubon dealt with the size by showing the bird bending over. It seeks to capture a baby alligator. Even so, the image of the Whooping Crane breaks through the margins of the double elephant folio page. The artist observed Whooping Cranes at Bayou Sara, Louisiana. He also kept a live specimen for observation in Boston and saw others in Florida. The Whooping Crane nearly became extinct in the twentieth century. Today it is an endangered species, but the population has grown to about 600.

ProvenancePurchased January 29, 1974 through (Taylor Clark, Baton Rouge, Louisiana) by the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation; accessioned to the Stark Museum of Art

On View

Not on view