John James Audubon (1785-1851) stands as a towering figure in American art and ornithology. While Alexander Wilson preceded him in attempting to document all the birds of America, it was John J Audubon who, for half a century, became the preeminent wildlife artist in the burgeoning nation. His monumental work, The Birds of America, comprising 435 life-size prints, swiftly overshadowed Wilson’s efforts and continues to serve as a benchmark for contemporary bird artists like Roger Tory Peterson and David Sibley.
To characterize John J Audubon is to grapple with a multifaceted persona: genius, innovator, storyteller, and a man deeply entrenched in the prevailing white perspective of scientific exploration. His contributions to ornithology, art, and cultural history are undeniable and vast. However, beneath the celebrated surface lies a complex and problematic individual, one whose actions, even by the standards of his time, are considered reprehensible. John J Audubon faced contemporary and posthumous accusations—and indeed, demonstrably engaged in—both scholarly deceit and plagiarism. More disturbingly, he was an enslaver of Black people and voiced critical opinions against emancipation. Further tarnishing his legacy, John J Audubon engaged in the unethical practice of stealing human remains, sending skulls to a colleague who employed them to propagate racist theories of white supremacy.
Adding another layer of complexity to his history is John J Audubon’s own ambiguous origins. Compelling research suggests that Audubon may have been born to a woman of mixed race, potentially making America’s most renowned bird artist a person of color. Conversely, other accounts maintain his mother was white. John J Audubon himself obfuscated his birth circumstances, falsely claiming Louisiana as his birthplace. Regardless of his parentage, his documented beliefs and actions remain the definitive measure of his character.
It is noteworthy that John J Audubon passed away decades before the establishment of the first Audubon societies. The adoption of his name by the National Audubon Society is attributed to George Bird Grinnell, a founder of an early Audubon Society in the late 19th century. Grinnell, who was tutored by Lucy Audubon, John J Audubon’s widow, selected the name to honor Audubon’s prominent stature in wildlife art and natural history.
Born in 1785 in Saint Domingue (present-day Haiti), John J Audubon was the illegitimate son of a French sea captain and sugar plantation owner. The identity of his mother remains uncertain; possibilities include Jeanne Rabine, a French chambermaid, or Catherine “Sanitte” Bouffard, a mixed-race housekeeper, with substantial evidence pointing towards the latter. At the age of five, coinciding with the onset of the Haitian Revolution, John J Audubon was sent to Nantes, France, and raised by his father’s wife, Anne. It was in France that John J Audubon developed his profound interests in birds, the natural world, drawing, and music.
In 1803, at the age of 18, John J Audubon journeyed to America, partly to evade conscription into Emperor Napoleon’s army. He settled on the family-owned estate at Mill Grove, near Philadelphia, where he immersed himself in hunting, studying, and drawing birds. It was also here that he met his future wife, Lucy Bakewell. During his time at Mill Grove, John J Audubon conducted what is recognized as the first documented bird-banding experiment in North America, attaching strings to the legs of Eastern Phoebes. This pioneering work allowed him to discover that these birds returned to the same nesting locations year after year.
For over a decade, John J Audubon pursued a career in business, venturing down the Ohio River to western Kentucky—then considered the frontier—and establishing a dry-goods store in Henderson. Despite his business pursuits, he continued to cultivate his passion for drawing birds, building a remarkable portfolio of his artwork. Tragically, John J Audubon also engaged in the practice of buying and selling enslaved people to financially support his commercial endeavors. While initially successful in business, he faced economic hardship, culminating in a brief imprisonment for bankruptcy in 1819.
Facing limited options, John J Audubon embarked on a mission in the early 1820s to document the birds of America. Armed with only his gun, art supplies, and a young assistant, he set out to capture the avifauna of the continent. In 1826, he sailed to England with his partially completed collection. His life-size, dramatically rendered bird portraits, coupled with his romanticized narratives of wilderness life, resonated deeply with the European audience during the height of the Romantic era. John J Audubon secured a printer for The Birds of America, initially in Edinburgh, then in London. He later collaborated with Scottish ornithologist William MacGillivray on the ornithological biographies, detailed life histories accompanying each species depicted in his monumental work.
The final print of The Birds of America was issued in 1838. By this time, John J Audubon had achieved considerable fame and financial stability. He undertook several more expeditions across the country in search of birds and eventually settled in New York City. In 1843, he embarked on one last westward journey, which provided the foundation for his final major project focusing on mammals, Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America. This work was largely completed by his sons, with the accompanying text authored by his long-time friend, the Lutheran pastor John Bachman—another figure known for his anti-abolitionist views and whose daughters married Audubon’s sons.
John J Audubon died at the age of 65 and is buried in Trinity Cemetery located at 155th Street and Broadway in New York City.
