작품 상세

Louis Agassiz Fuertes was named after the famous Harvard professor Louis Agassiz by his father, himself a professor at Cornell. Though he studied architecture at Cornell, the words of his namesake prevailed, "Study nature, not books," and Fuertes went on to become one of the preeminent American bird artists of all time. The artist was noted for his early talent and eye for detail, joining the American Ornithologists' Union at the age of seventeen. Through this important group he met ornithologist Elliot Coues, who promoted his work and commissioned the artist to illustrate the 1903 edition of his book, "Key to North American Birds." Fuertes also met artist Abbott H. Thayer through the Ornithologists' Union, with whom he traveled and studied painting. In 1899, Fuertes went on the Harriman Expedition up the coast of Alaska with other eminent figures, including naturalist John Muir and photographer Edward S. Curtis. The artist traveled extensively in order to view and collect birds in their natural habitats, and reportedly "on one occasion (in the Southwest) had to be rescued from a steep cliff-face he had climbed down trying to recover a zone-tailed hawk." Along with Frank W. Benson, Fuertes provided illustrations for John C. Phillips' "A Natural History of the Ducks," published from 1922-1926. He also painted stunning bird portraits for Edward Howe Forbush's "Birds of Massachusetts and Other New England States," published between 1925-1929. The Wilson Ornithological Society of Ann Arbor, Michigan, awards an honor in his name each year. His works can be found in the Cornell University collection and Chicago's Field Museum among others, and he has two species of birds named after him, Icterus fuertesi and Hapalopsittaca fuertesi. The puffin is a member of the Auk family. During breeding season these birds display the kind of brightly-colored beak seen on the middle bird in this painting. They are known for their black and white coloring and their short wings, which allow the birds to be as agile underwater as they are in the air.