Skip to main content
Audubon and Bachman shared a close friendship that flourished throughout the creation of The Birds of America and The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America. Bachman was an avid naturalist who collected hundreds of specimens for his artist friend and hosted the artist during his prolonged visits to Charleston. In addition to the warbler, several bird species have been named after Bachman for his contributions to American ornithology. His devotion was so great that when he travelled to England to visit Audubon during the printing of the final volume of The Birds of America, Bachman had a cage full of American mockingbirds in tow. [1] The ultimate collaboration of the two naturalists was the marriage of Audubon’s sons to Bachman’s daughters.
Notes:
[1] Richard Rhodes, John James Audubon: The Making of an American (New York: Alfred A. Knopf 2004), 405.
ProvenanceTo 2001
Betsy Main Babcock (1937-2001), Winston-Salem, NC. [1]
From 1993/2002
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by Betsy Main Babcock in 1993 with the donation being completed January 25, 2002. [2]
Notes:
[1] Letter from Kathy Justice, Hatfield, Mountcastle, Deal, Van Zandt & Mann, L.L.P., October 10, 2001.
[2] See note 1. Also Acquisition Committee Meeting documents, November 8, 2001, as well as, Delivery Receipt from January 25, 2002, object file.
Exhibition History2011-2012
Wonder & Enlightenment: Artist-Naturalists in the Early American South
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (8/13/2011- 2/20/2012)
Published ReferencesArcher, Philip R. and Martha R. Severens, "Artist-Naturalists in the Early American South" American Art Review Vol.XXIV, No.1 (2012)
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Reynolda: Her Muses, Her Stories , with contributions by Martha R. Severens and David Park Curry (Winston-Salem, N.C.: Reynolda House Museum of American Art affiliated with Wake Forest University, 2017). pg 238, 239
DepartmentAmerican Art
Bachman's Warbler
Artist(after)
John James Audubon
(1785 - 1851)
Date1833
Mediumhand colored engraving and aquatint on paper
DimensionsFrame: 44 3/16 x 33 1/2 in. (112.2 x 85.1 cm)
Image (plate): 20 1/2 x 14 1/2 in. (52.1 x 36.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Betsy Main Babcock
CopyrightPublic Domain
Object number2002.3.2
DescriptionThe rarest of the North American songbirds, Bachman’s warbler was named by John James Audubon for his friend and collaborator, the Lutheran minister Reverend John Bachman of Charleston, South Carolina. Unusual even in Audubon’s time, this delicate bird, native to the southeastern United States, is now believed to be extinct. Through various artistic tropes, the artist emphasizes the elusive quality of the species, which he never observed in its natural habitat. The full foliage and large blooms of the plant dwarf the male and female warbler. Their vivid yellow plumage is camouflaged by the centers of the flowers and the decaying leaves of the Gordona Pubescens, a type of tea plant. Despite their almost concealed position in the composition, each bird is carefully rendered to reveal the distinct features of its sex. Audubon and Bachman shared a close friendship that flourished throughout the creation of The Birds of America and The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America. Bachman was an avid naturalist who collected hundreds of specimens for his artist friend and hosted the artist during his prolonged visits to Charleston. In addition to the warbler, several bird species have been named after Bachman for his contributions to American ornithology. His devotion was so great that when he travelled to England to visit Audubon during the printing of the final volume of The Birds of America, Bachman had a cage full of American mockingbirds in tow. [1] The ultimate collaboration of the two naturalists was the marriage of Audubon’s sons to Bachman’s daughters.
Notes:
[1] Richard Rhodes, John James Audubon: The Making of an American (New York: Alfred A. Knopf 2004), 405.
ProvenanceTo 2001
Betsy Main Babcock (1937-2001), Winston-Salem, NC. [1]
From 1993/2002
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by Betsy Main Babcock in 1993 with the donation being completed January 25, 2002. [2]
Notes:
[1] Letter from Kathy Justice, Hatfield, Mountcastle, Deal, Van Zandt & Mann, L.L.P., October 10, 2001.
[2] See note 1. Also Acquisition Committee Meeting documents, November 8, 2001, as well as, Delivery Receipt from January 25, 2002, object file.
Exhibition History2011-2012
Wonder & Enlightenment: Artist-Naturalists in the Early American South
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (8/13/2011- 2/20/2012)
Published ReferencesArcher, Philip R. and Martha R. Severens, "Artist-Naturalists in the Early American South" American Art Review Vol.XXIV, No.1 (2012)
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Reynolda: Her Muses, Her Stories , with contributions by Martha R. Severens and David Park Curry (Winston-Salem, N.C.: Reynolda House Museum of American Art affiliated with Wake Forest University, 2017). pg 238, 239
Status
On view