A Bird in the Hand - Art Gallery of Alberta

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The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition ProgramBirds in Art History - A Brief Survey continuedIn North America birds were first addressed as a subjectin art during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. One ofthe most important artists to address this subject was JamesAudubon. Audubon was inspired in his work by an earlierornithologist, Alexander Wilson.Alexander Wilson (1766-1813) was a Scottish-American poet,ornithologist, naturalist and illustrator. Born in Paisley, Scotland,he left Scotland in 1794 to find a better life in America. Wilsonfirst obtained employment as a schoolteacher near Philadelphia.In 1801 he moved to Gray’s Ferry, Pennsylvania, and there metthe famous naturalist, William Bartram, who developed Wilson’sinterest in ornithology. In 1802, Wilson decided to publish abook illustrating all the North American birds. With this in mindhe traveled widely, watching and painting birds and collectingsubscribers for his book. The result of Wilson’s efforts was thenine volume work, American Ornithology (1808-1814), in whichthe author illustrated 268 species of birds, 26 of which had notpreviously been described. In 1810 Wilson met John JamesAudubon in Louisville, Kentucky, and this meeting probablyinspired the younger man to produce his own book of birdillustrations. Several species of bird were named for Wilson,including Wilson’s Storm-petrel, Wilson’s Plover, Wilson’sPhalarope and Wilson’s Warbler.Alexander WilsonGold Winged Woodpecker,Black Throated Bunting,Blue BirdJohn James Audubon (1785-1851) was, for over half a century,America’s dominant wildlife artist. His book Birds of America,a collection of 435 life-size prints, quickly eclipsed the work ofAlexander Wilson and is still the standard against which 20th and21st century bird artists are measured.Audubon was born in Saint Dominique (present-day Haiti) butraised in Nantes, France. During his youth he took a livelyinterest in birds, nature, drawing, and music. In 1803 he wassent to America where he lived on the family-owned estatenear Philadelphia. There he hunted, studied, drew birds andconducted the first known bird-banding experiment in NorthAmerica.In 1819, after a decade in business, Audubon began his questto depict American’s birds with nothing but his gun, artist’smaterials, and a young assistant. Seven years later, in 1826, hesailed to England with his partly finished book “The AmericanWoodsman”. With its life-sized, highly dramatic bird portraits,along with his descriptions of wilderness life, the book was animmediate success and by 1838 Audubon had achieved fameand comfort.James AudobonWhite GeyrfalconsAFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479youraga.ca
The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition ProgramBirds in Religion, Myth and SymbolismBirds, with their marvelous ability to ‘escape’ the earth and soar through the skies, havebeen seen by many cultures as links between the human world and supernatural realms.Holding a special place in the collective imagination of humanity, they assume a varietyof roles in the world’s mythologies and religions. Many of the artists in the exhibition ABird in the Hand explore, through their imagery, the roles birds have played in humanity’sspiritual belief systems.One of the most import roles birds play in many cultures concerns the creation of the world.In the mythologies of Egypt, Southeast Asia and Siberia various types of birds, or bird spirits,are responsible for the creation of the universe, the earth, and the first peoples. For manyNorth American Native Peoples the Raven is responsible for many formations of the earth,for the naming of plants, and for bringing light to mankind and teaching humans many skills.In some cultures this creative role goes beyond the physical world. Cultures in Europe andAsia, for example, credited birds with establishing their social orders, especially kingships. Theassociation of birds with the act of creation may be a primary consideration or inspiration behindJune Montgomery’s painting The Raven Sleeps on Totem of 1982.Due to their power of flight, birds have also been linked to matters of life, death, and themovement of the human soul. Some cultures have associated birds with birth, believing that aperson’s soul arived on earth in bird form. Aspects of this belief have persisted into the presentday in the story that storks bring babies.Birds are also associated with death. Carrion-eating birds such as vultures, crows and ravens,for example, were connnected with disaster and war. In some myths birds act as guides to theafterlife or mediators between humans and the divine. In other cultures the soul, once freedfrom the body, takes the form of a bird. In Jewish tradition, for example, the dove is the guidefor the human soul. In Christian tradition the dove is a symbol of the immortal soul ascending toheaven. In Greek and Celtic lore the dead could reappear as birds while, in Islamic traditon, alldead souls remain in the form of birds until Judgment Day. The associations of birds with deathor acting as mediators or guides to the afterlife are clearly seen in the works Kyofu by RobertHicks, Converging to the Point of the Most Familiar, by Pat Strakowski, Acceptance by DorothyHenzell Willis, and Caller of the Morning Prayer by Dale Auger.Besides playing direct roles in religious/mythological systems, many birds have been imbuedwith symbolic meaning. Eagles, because of their strength and majesty, have many divine orroyal associations. By adopting the eagle as their symbol, kings from ancient to recent timeshave tired to suggest that they, too, had some divine or heroic qualities. In the myths of manyFirst Nations peoples, the eagle is a culture hero and a spirit of war or hunting. Male peacocks,because of their beautiful tail feathers, can suggest either foolish vanity or divine glory. Owlsplay a dual role. While symbols of wisdom, patience, and learning, because they hunt at nightthey are also associated with secrecy and darkness and have also been seen as omens ofdeath. Robins, on the other hand, are associated with compassion and good fortune, as arebluebirds and woodpeckers.AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479youraga.ca
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A Bird in the Hand - Art Gallery of Alberta

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