Hidden Treasures: Audubon Edition Presented by Friends of the Cabildo

Join the Friends of the Cabildo as the Louisiana State Museum’s impressive John James Audubon Collection is opened for an exclusive behind-the-scenes viewing, June 26th & 28th. Dr. Tony Lewis, Curator of the Visual Arts for the Louisiana State Museum will guide you through an in-depth look into the links of Audubon prints and some of the early works of the Louisiana landscape, usually off limits to the general public.

Audubon, a native of the French colony Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), is best known for The Birds of America (1827-1838), a book of 435 images, portraits of every bird then known in the United States. A self-taught scientist, he discovered twenty-five new species and twelve new subspecies. New Orleans’ Audubon Nature Institute, a collection of museums, parks and a zoo is named in his honor. The Audubon Edition of Hidden Treasures examines several of these original double-elephant folio prints, together with other artifacts related to Audubon’s career – a lithograph of Audubon by Jules Lion; watercolors of bird eggs by Audubon’s friend, Dr. James De Berty Trudeau; a miniature portrait of Madame Andry, the mysterious veiled lady that so shook Audubon’s confidence in 1821; octavo editions of Birds of America (1842) and Vivparous Quadrupeds of North America (1855); and a ca. 1840 Calotype of ferns by Joseph R. Mason (1808–1842), Audubon’s young assistant in the early 1820s. Dr. Lewis shares technical details related to printmaking and considers the myth and historical evidence behind Audubon’s staggering accomplishment.

Hidden Treasures of the Louisiana State Museum: Audubon Edition takes place Tuesday and Thursday, June 26^th and 28^th. Tours are at 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm at the Louisiana State Museum’s Collection Storage Facility, located at 1000 Chartres Street in the French Quarter. Cost is $20.00 per person, or $15.00 for Friends of the Cabildo members. Reservations are required, and space is extremely limited.

To reserve your space, please contact Kaydee Nenninger at 504-523-3939.

Friends of the Cabildo is a private non-profit volunteer group that provides financial and volunteer support for the Louisiana State Museum, its projects and its property. Since incorporating in 1956, the Friends of the Cabildo has grown into a large statewide membership organization, a dynamic and motivating force in broadening and supporting the aims of the Louisiana State Museum.

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