Double-crested Cormorant

Artist John James Audubon (American, 1785 - 1851)

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

Date1835

Mediumetching and aquatint on paper, hand-colored

DimensionsDouble elephant: 38 1/4 x 25 1/2 inches (97.2 x 64.8 cm)

Credit LinePartial Bequest of H.J. Lutcher Stark, 1965 and Partial Gift of Nelda C. Stark, 1973

Object number11.1.2.D.90_Double-crested Cormorant

ClassificationsPages

DescriptionThis page is bound in Volume IV (11.1.2.D).

Label TextArtist John James Audubon changed the way we see nature. He had a grand vision. It came from his personal passion for studying birds. Audubon produced one of the world’s most beautiful and amazing publications. The Birds of America features 435 individual prints of birds. The birds are life-size and lifelike. The artist incorporated natural habitats in the imagery. The rocky coastline of Labrador is the setting for Audubon’s depiction of this Cormorant. “Double crested” in the bird’s common name refers to the tufts of feathers on each side of the bird’s head.

ProvenanceArtist; by inheritance to his son John Woodhouse Audubon [1812-1862]; purchased December 7, 1861 by John Taylor Johnston [1]; by inheritance to his son John Herbert Johnston as of 1893; by inheritance to his grandson William W. Appleton [1915-2014]; as of November 26, 1939 (Harry A. Levinson, The Chaucer Head Book Shop, New York) [2]; purchased 1939 by Cornelius D. Ehret, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; purchased April 29, 1954 through (Nada Kramar, Washington, D.C.) by H.J. Lutcher Stark [1887-1965]; ½ interest bequeathed September 2, 1965 to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation [3]; remaining ½ interest gifted February 1, 1973 to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation by Nelda C. Stark [1909-1999]; accessioned to the Stark Museum of Art | 1. See letter and bill of sale from John Woodhouse Audubon to John Taylor Johnston (object number 11.2.105.A-C) | 2. The New York Times Book Review, "Notes on Rare Books," November 26, 1939. | 3. Owned jointly by H.J. Lutcher Stark and Nelda C. Stark until his death at which point his ½ interest was bequeathed to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation.

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