Swallow-tailed Hawk

Artist John James Audubon (American, 1785 - 1851)

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

Date1829

Mediumetching and aquatint on paper, hand-colored

DimensionsDouble elephant: 26 1/2 x 39 7/8 inches (67.3 x 101.3 cm)
Frame: 31 1/2 × 43 3/8 × 1 1/4 inches (80 × 110.2 × 3.2 cm)

Credit LinePurchase of the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, 1980

Object number91.100.15

ClassificationsPrints

Label TextAudubon saw a Swallow-tailed Hawk at Bayou Sara, Louisiana. He completed his drawing for this print during the summer of 1821. Audubon wrote, “The flight of this elegant species of Hawk is singularly beautiful and protracted.” The artist portrayed the graceful flight of the bird. He showed it with its prey, a garter snake. Today, the common name for this bird is swallow-tailed kite. The copper plate used to make engravings of the Swallow-Tailed Hawk is on view nearby.

ProvenanceThe New York Society Library, New York, New York, c. 1898. purchased September 30, 1980 through (W. Graham Arader, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania) by the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation; accessioned to the Stark Museum of Art

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