Stanley Hawk
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
1945.8.36
Art Historical Context
Behold the majestic *Stanley Hawk* (1828), a stunning hand-colored engraving and aquint by Robert Havell faithfully reproducing John James Audubon's watercolor. This print hails from Audubon's groundbreaking *The Birds of America* (1827–1838), a folio of life-sized bird portraits that revolutionized natural history illustration. Audubon, a French-American artist and ornithologist, captured the hawk—likely a sharp-shinned hawk—in dynamic flight amid its natural habitat, blending scientific precision with dramatic artistry to showcase North American wildlife. Havell's mastery of engraving and a...
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...