Great Blue Heron
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 1/2 x 25 3/16 inches (97.8 x 64 cm)
Frame: 43 5/8 × 33 5/8 × 7/8 inches (110.8 × 85.4 × 2.2 cm)
Frame: 43 5/8 × 33 5/8 × 7/8 inches (110.8 × 85.4 × 2.2 cm)
Credit LineBequest of Nelda C. Stark, 1999
Object number91.100.32
ClassificationsPrints
Label TextAudubon’s Great Blue Heron demonstrates his artistic mastery of ornithological subjects. To portray large birds life-sized, he needed a large sheet of paper. He and his printer used a sheet approximately 26.5 inches by 39.5 inches, called a “double elephant folio.” For the largest birds, Audubon still needed to fit the bird on the sheet. He used a graceful and life-like pose depicting the heron searching for food. The pose also allowed the artist to depict the wings dramatically and with great detail.
ProvenancePurchased January 27, 1974 through (Taylor Clark, Baton Rouge, Louisiana) by Nelda C. Stark [1909-1999]; bequeathed December 13, 1999 to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation; accessioned to the Stark Museum of Art
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