Florida Cormorant
Medium
hand-colored engraving and aquatint on Whatman wove paper
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Walter B. James
Accession Number
1945.8.252
Art Historical Context
Behold the striking *Florida Cormorant* (1835), a masterful print by engraver Robert Havell after the original watercolor by John James Audubon. This work hails from Audubon's monumental *Birds of America*1827–1838), one of the most ambitious natural history projects ever undertaken. Audubon, a pioneering American ornithologist and artist, sought to depict every known North American bird species at life size, revolutionizing scientific illustration with his dramatic, lifelike compositions that captured birds in dynamic, naturalistic poses amid their habitats. Printed as a hand-colored engravi...
About the Artist
Robert Havell after John James Audubon
Robert Havell Jr., born on November 25, 1793, in Reading, Berkshire, England, was the son of renowned engraver and publisher Robert Havell Sr. and Lydia Miller Phillips. Growing up in a family of artists that included notable engravers and etchers, he trained under his father, mastering aquatint techniques early on. Though briefly estranged from the family business, Havell reconciled with his fath...