In Audubon’s Society

T he great 19th century artist John James Audubon is best known for his detailed portraits of birds featured in his seminal book, “The Birds of America.” But the artist-naturalist, who lived from 1785 until 1851, also published a series of illustrations of four-legged mammals of North America, “The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America.”

The story of this publication is the subject of “John James Audubon in the West: The Last Expedition, Mammals of North America,” Sunday through Sept. 30 at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage.

Organized by the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyo., “John James Audubon in the West” explores his 1843 journey and combines original oils and prints that depict mammals, plus artifacts collected during the trip.

Amy Scott, the Autry’s curator of visual arts, discussed the exhibit.

Question: What makes this exhibit unique?

Answer: It takes an artist who is known for something very specific, which of course is birds, and allows us to explore this entire other aspect of his career and as that pertains to the American West and the evolution of science in the American West, as well as art and art history. Audubon was the third major artist to travel West. He followed George Catlin and Karl Bodmer up the Missouri River, so that also places him in kind of the explorer-artist tradition of venturing West to document the native peoples and the landscape

Q: How many prints and paintings are in the exhibit?

A: There are almost 200 objects. The majority are prints of various animals. There are also paintings by Audubon’s contemporaries, including Catlin, Bodmer and Alfred Jacob Miller. The Catlin paintings are of Native American settlements. The Bodmers are mostly Native American portraits. The Miller, I believe, is a Native American buffalo hunting scene. .

Q: Did Audubon document a vast array of animals during this expedition?

A: He tried to capture as many as he could find. One of the things the exhibition points out is that he probably didn’t see as many species as he would have hoped. The resulting publication, “The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” is not quite as comprehensive as “The Birds of America.”

There are a number of significant Western mammals [in the exhibit]. The most prominent is the bison. There are two really lovely bison prints. Audubon saw herds all over and participated in several buffalo hunts. He thought the buffalo was the most important of our contemporary mammals.

Q: Since Audubon is known for being a naturalist--did he actually kill these bison on the hunts?

A: I don’t know if he killed any directly. He had a selected group of scientists he went with, and [the hunts] were orchestrated events. Audubon was touted as an aristocrat and a celebrity along this journey, so they would have been orchestrated for his interest.

One of the other things the exhibition points out is that hunting was not just sport for Audubon but part of the process that he used to observe and draw mammals in addition to observing them in their natural settings. One of the members of his team was a taxidermist. A lot of the animals he was looking for were nocturnal. So if it was difficult for him to observe the animal, they would be shot and preserved and then studied in that way. Audubon is known for his amazing ability to capture textures of fur and feathers. He did observe them in their natural settings, and it was important for him to document social as well.

Q: Is it true that his sons did some of these prints?

A: He retired officially in 1847, and the final book was published a year later. He died in 1851. He relied increasingly on his two sons. Both of them were gifted artists, but their talents didn’t quite match his.

Q: What type of documents and artifacts are in the exhibit?

A: There are several letters from Audubon to his family and friends from various points along the journey. There are more than a few Native American artifacts that were collected by Audubon. There is a tobacco bag and a buckskin coat and a Blackfoot war shirt. *

“John James Audubon in the West: The Last Expedition, Mammals of North America,” June 24-Sept. 30, Autry Museum of Western Heritage, Griffith Park, 4700 Western Heritage Way. Tuesdays-Sundays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thursdays, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Admission is $7.50 for adults; $5 for seniors and students; $3 for children. No admission charge on Thursdays 4-8 p.m. Call (323) 667-2000.