A Summer of Birds

His name graces a nature conservatory, a zoo and even a magazine, but few know many details from the personal life of avian artist and one-time Louisianan John James Audubon. Leaning heavily on prior work done by Audubon biographers Richard Rhodes—John James Audubon: The Making of an American—and William Souder—Under a Wild Sky: John James Audubon and the Making of Birds of America—local author and journalist Danny Heitman offers a brisk but well-written survey of the famed artist’s stint living near St. Francisville, most notably the summer of 1821 he spent tutoring Eliza Pirrie at the Oakley House.

Born in Haiti and raised in France, Audubon was at the fulcrum of his career during his time in Louisiana; after some business failures, but before his name became synonymous with ornithology through the publishing of his world-renowned collection of masterworks, Birds of America, in 1826. It was here, in the wilds of St. Francisville just north of Baton Rouge, that Audubon’s creativity thrived through sketches and paintings of the dozens of bird varieties of the region. Heitman illuminates this crucial chapter that reinvigorated Audubon on his rocky path to prominence.

For those who have envied framed prints of Audubon’s red-cockaded woodpeckers and regal White Ibis on neighbors’ walls, or left Oakley House wanting more without researching a thesis paper on the guy, the 73 pages of A Summer of Birds is a worthwhile digest of this groundbreaking artist at his creative peak.