Audubon artifacts on loan: WATERCOLOR PAINTING "Chipping Squirrel Hackee" by John James Audubon, c.1841, published in The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America OIL PAINTING "Ground Rats or Cotton Rats" by John Woodhouse Audubon JOURNAL of John James Audubon, written in preparation for The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, includes field notes, descriptions and measurements for about two dozen mammal species. ~ John James Audubon State Park and Museum, Henderson KY

An unsuccessful businessman on the Kentucky frontier in 1820, John James Audubon turned to the study of birds. Floating down the Mississippi River with his art materials, Audubon was the first to paint wildlife with authentic poses and in their natural habitats.

Twelve years later, Audubon published the first of four illustrated volumes on The Birds of America. This volume was an overnight success overseas but here at home, the self-taught artist was initially scorned by his own countrymen. In 1843 he conducted a field trip up the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers to prepare for The Vivparous Quadrupeds of North America, but completed only half of the images before his eyesight failed. His son, John Woodhouse Audubon, finished the volume.

The paintings of John James Audubon have since become legendary, and became the incentive for one of the most powerful conservation movements in history. The National Audubon Society continues to work toward the appreciation, preservation, and restoration of our wildlife environments.