A Summer of Birds - (Hill Collection: Holdings of the Lsu Libraries) by Danny Heitman (Paperback)

About the Book

"As the summer of 1821 began, John James Audubon's ambition to create a comprehensive pictorial record of American birds was still largely a dream. Then, out of economic necessity, Audubon came to Oakley Plantation, a sprawling estate in Louisiana's West Feliciana Parish. Teeming with what Audubon described as an "often supernatural" abundance of life, the woods of Oakley galvanized Audubon's sense of possibility for one of the most audacious undertakings in the annals of art. In "A Summer of Birds," journalist and essayist Danny Heitman sorts through the facts and romance of Audubon's summer at Oakley, a season that clearly shaped the destiny of the world's most famous bird artist. Heitman draws from a rich variety of sources--including Audubon's own extensive journals, more recent Audubon scholarship, and Robert Penn Warren's poetry--to create a stimulating excursion across time, linking the historical man Audubon to the present-day civic and cultural icon. He considers the financial straits that led to Audubon's employment at Oakley as a private tutor to fifteen-year-old Eliza Pirrie, Audubon's family history, his flamboyance as a master of self-invention, his naturalist and artistic techniques, and the possible reasons for his dismissal. Illustrations include photographs of Oakley House--now a state historic site--Audubon's paintings from his Oakley period, and portraits of the Pirrie family members. A favorable combination of climate and geography made Oakley a birding haven, and Audubon completed or began at least twenty-three bird paintings--among his finest work--while staying there. A Summer of Birds will inform and delight readers in its exploration of this eventful but unsung 1821 interlude, a fascinating chapter in the life of America's foremost bird artist. It is an indispensable pleasure for birders, Audubon enthusiasts, and visitors to Oakley House"--

Book Synopsis

Over the summer of 1821, a cash-strapped John James Audubon worked as a tutor at Oakley Plantation in Louisiana's rural West Feliciana Parish. This move initiated a profound change in direction for the struggling artist. Oakley's woods teemed with life, galvanizing Audubon to undertake one of the most extraordinary endeavors in the annals of art: a comprehensive pictorial record of America's birds. That summer, Audubon began what would eventually become his four-volume opus, Birds of America.

In A Summer of Birds, Danny Heitman recounts the season that shaped Audubon's destiny, sorting facts from romance to give an intimate view of the world's most famous bird artist. A new preface marks the two--hundredth anniversary of that eventful interlude, reflecting on Audubon's enduring legacy among artists, aesthetes, and nature lovers in Louisiana and around the world.

Review Quotes

A fine portrait of the artist as a man in motion, a young man rather than an icon.--Living Bird Magazine

If all historians wrote as beautifully as Danny Heitman, history would be everyone's favorite subject. . . . Filled with all the color, texture, and detail of an Audubon painting.--Louisiana History

About the Author

Danny Heitman is an award-winning columnist for The Advocate newspaper in Louisiana and editor of Phi Kappa Phi's Forum magazine. His essays and book reviews have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Smithsonian, and elsewhere.