Purple Gallinule
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
1945.8.305
Art Historical Context
Behold the vivid *Purple Gallinule* (1836), a stunning hand-colored engraving and aquatint by Robert Hav after John James Audubon housed in the National Gallery of. This print is a gem from Audubon's epic *The Birds of America* (1827–1838), a landmark publication that revolutionized natural history illustration. Audubon, a self-taught artist and ornithologist, captured birds life-size in dynamic, naturalistic poses amid their habitats, challenging the static conventions of earlier bird art and sparking a new era of scientific realism. Havell's masterful translation employed engraving for prec...
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...