Cayenne Tern

Work on Paper

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DePaul Art Museum

Name/Title

Cayenne Tern

Entry/Object ID

5766

Description

Vignette of a white and grey bird with black head and orange beak standing on a grassy rock next to a pink crab. Water in the background.

Artwork Details

Medium

Hcolored lithograph

Context

John J. Audubon’s (1785-1851) book ‘Birds of America’ was originally printed with “Double Elephant folio” engravings, meaning 435 life size images of North American birds. Between 1840 and 1869, several editions of a smaller (“octavo”) version of the book were printed. The prints found in DePaul’s collection are from this later era, and were printed by J.T. Bowen in Philadelphia. Bowen used a “camera lucida” to project the large engravings on lithographic stone which was then hand drawn and hand painted using watercolors. These smaller sized books made Audubon’s work accessible to a wider audience, and helped his art gain the reputation it still holds today.

Acquisition

Notes

Collection of DePaul Art Museum

Made/Created

Artist

Audubon, John J.

Notes

Creation Date: 1840-1869

Lexicon

Legacy Lexicon

Class

WORKS ON PAPER