Naturalist Audubon
Auburn University’s Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art hosted “John James Audubon: Naturalism and Romanticism,” at 2 p.m. Thursday. The symposium reflected one of the permanent exhibitions.
The presentation opened with Taylor Littleton, president of the museum’s advisory board. Littleton spoke on the Louise Hauss and David Brent Miller Audubon Collection that is held in the Jule Collins Smith Museum.
Ashton Nichols, professor of English language and literature at Dickson College in Carlisle, Penn. presented “The Artist as Ornithologist: Audubon and Later Romantic Natural History.” Nichols produced “A Romantic Natural History:1750-1859.” The hypertext project has been recognized by the BBC in London and The New York Times. Nicolas’ other scholarly publications and books cover many topics: African exploration, nature writing, travel writing and Romantic and Victorian poetry.
Next on schedule was Gregory H. Nobles, a professor of history in the School of History, Technology and Society at the Georgia Institute of Technology with “Ornithological Gothic: John James Audubon and the Death of the Golden Eagle.” Currently Nobles is working on two books: “Whose American Revolution Was It? Historians Interpret the Founding” and “Naturalist Nation: The Art and Science of Birds in Audubon’s America.”
Following Nobles, Ron Tyler, director of the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, presented “John James Audubon: An American Romantic.” Tyler’s books include: “Prints of the West,” “Alfred Jacob Miller: Artist as Explorer” and “Audubon’s Great National Work: The Royal Octavo Edition of the Birds of America.”
The symposium was funded in part by a grant from the F. Allen and Louise K. Turner Foundation. A reception followed the symposium.
If you missed the event, but are interested, Saturday the Art Club will focus on John James Audubon and the museum’s collection of Audubon prints at the Jule Smith Collins Museum.
Click to launch pop up and have the text portion read to you.
