1

Greg Turissini Writing Assignment 12 November 8, 2011

John James Audubon’s Birds of America, or “Double Elephant Folio”, includes prints of hundreds of North American birds. Audubon’s portrayal of the whip-poor-will bird is an extraordinary piece of artwork. Yet, through closer analysis of Audubon’s painting, the “telos”, or end goal, is evident. Audubon’s utilization of color, detail, placement, and orientation depicts the whip-poor-will birds in their most natural position, challenging whether or not human self-reliance and imagination can transcend prior knowledge and understanding of the natural setting.

The oversized pages of the “Double Elephant Folio” are crucial to deciphering the telos of the painting. Initially, it is reasonable to suggest that Audubon’s painting is large-scale. The surface area of the page, as well as the print itself, measures approximately nine square feet. In comparison to the common bird, the size whip-poor-will appears to be realistic. The butterflies, caterpillar, and leaves—similar to those of an oak—are also life-size. This large-scale portrayal of the objects, are juxtaposed by the small-scale representation of the print’s detail. The dark, powerful veins shoot through the leaves like a drop of die diffusing in water. Each and every feather is transcribed onto the painting with painstaking effort. Even the composition of the tree branch, seemingly insignificant in comparison to its vivid environment, possesses character through line and color. The overall effect of the detailing is not to depict the whip-poor-will as just a bird, but instead, to generate the archetypical bird for that particular species—as a tool for comparison to differentiate between other birds. Audubon’s illustration of realistic, life-size nature expresses his goal of depicting nature in its most natural state and habitat.

As diverse and varied as Audubon’s painting is, the primary emphasis is centered on the three whip-poor-will birds. While no single insect, bird, or plant dominates the painting, the emphasis is on behavior, not magnitude. The painting reveals the lifelike representation of the many aspects of the whip-poor-will manners. These actions include the top right bird hunting 2 down a butterfly, the bottom left bird perched on a branch—deep in contemplation. The bottom right bird appears to be glancing up at the soaring bird, perhaps in pursuit of the soaring bird, waiting to partake in the quest for a bountiful meal. I initially thought that the extraordinarily vibrant colors of the butterflies overpowered the drab, monotonous colors of the birds. The deep black, brown, and grey colors, though unattractive and disagreeable, appeal to the rationality of the birds. In addition, the size, number, and variance of conduct—of the birds dominate both the butterflies and the surrounding plant growth.

The composition of Audubon’s painting is both unbalanced and asymmetrical. The motivation for the portrayal of this deranged composition reflects the need to depict the whip- poor-will birds in their most natural environment. We humans seek to organize and categorize the uncontrollable and disorderly world that we live in. Aspects such as balance and symmetry would produce order in the print. Order does not evoke emotion quite like disorder does. Disorder challenges the human mind, forcing its will upon the imagination. Those who are gazing at the folio’s massive pages can utilize the print to begin developing the birds’ natural habitat. But beyond this habitat lies a natural setting waiting to be created by the observer. The print only provides a small sampling of this disorder, as the rest is left for the imagination conjure up.

The employment of color in Audubon’s painting of the whip-poor-will birds, butterflies, and caterpillar, is not deliberate. The colors utilized were not premeditated—in the sense that certain colors are often overemphasized and exaggerated, carrying a weighty, symbolic meaning.

The unintentional absence of significance of color reflects the drive behind John James Audubon’s objective: the realistic depiction of nature.

However, juxtaposed to the unintentional and insignificant coloring of the non-botanical organisms is the purposeful coloring of the leaves. The differing shades of green and yellow oak leaves are seldom identical. My immediate reaction to the diversity in shading was to search for a 3 light source—altering the shade of the leaves. But I could not find this non-existent source of light. Unlike the coloring of the non-botanical organisms, where the primary goal was to designate the archetypical species, the goal of the differing leaf color was to confirm the distinctiveness of the plant life. Audubon, painting in the post-Linnaean era, most likely knew that color had no place in botanical illustration. This notion is confirmed by the delegation of the leaves to the background of the painting.

Depth of field often plays a vital role in the development of a painting’s telos. Audubon’s painting falls short of producing an illusion of depth; in fact, the apparent lack of depth is striking.

In the foreground, the three whip-poor-will birds, the two butterflies, and the long tree branch clutter the frame—noticeable—yet failing to capture the full attention of the viewer. The middle ground and background, coupled as one distinct consortium of leaves, dominate the frame.

Analysis of both the background and foreground reveal that the leaves are only present in the background, while all of the non-botanical creatures—the birds, butterflies, and caterpillar—reside in the foreground. This jarring placement of the botanical versus non-botanical organisms exposes

Audubon’s desire to display the non-botanical organisms in their most natural state and habitat, and ultimately, disclosing that the emphasis is on the whip-poor-wills, not the plants.

The whip-poor-will print’s soft, yet rich color palate induces an emotional response of both serenity and tranquility. This scene of calmness is juxtaposed to the demonstration of dynamism and movement. The appearance of motion is reserved for the birds and insects: two butterflies are flying without purpose; one whip-poor-will rips through the painting with the utmost concentration. The print is muddled with motion and vitality; however, the temperate color scheme ultimately trumps the dynamism of the organisms. I initially found this troublesome, as animation and liveliness almost always dictates the mood and emotion conveyed through a painting. Conversely, the emotional response of serenity and tranquility stems from the absence of 4 a diverse environment. Audubon selected a blank white background for the painting, disinclined to include any aspect of the sublime that could detract from the primary purpose: the depiction of the whip-poor-wills in their natural environment.

Unlike Audubon, many naturalists attempted to depict the natural environment through the copying, modification, and replication of model botanical illustrations.1 Audubon’s realistic portrayal of the whip-poor-wills is not a product of this modification. Conversely, Audubon displays the diachronic progression of the different phases of the birds’ behavior in one singular painting. Rather than just attempting to illustrate three whip-poor-wills interacting with each other,

Audubon’s conveys the various stages of development, the actions of the birds, the food that they eat, and the environment that they dwell in. In essence, Audubon is simplifying the entire ecosystem of the whip-poor-wills, condensing it all into one painting.

John James Audubon’s print of the whip-poor-wills’ environment and natural setting challenges the imagination. Once I came to the realization that the print expressed only an inkling of the entire whip-poor-will ecosystem, I began to conjure up m own interpretation on that which lies beyond what Audubon painted. Connected to the branch is a tree trunk, adjacent to the tree is another tree—perhaps of a different species. Audubon’s painting carries implications beyond the understanding of human capacity. What I mean by this is that when we utilize our imagination to invoke preconceived notions of the nature Audubon has projected, we can develop an infinite amount of possible outcomes for the ecosystem. Indeed, Audubon’s realistic depiction of the

North American wildlife challenged prior assumptions of the environment and nature. Europeans of yesterday were taken aback, while humans of today are in awe—for the infinite seldom reconciles with that of the past.

1 Karin Nickelsen, "Draughtsmen, Botanists and Nature: Constructing Eighteenth-Century Botanical Illustrations," in Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, (2006), 1-25. 5