John James Audubon, Golden Eagle, 1833Watercolor, pastel, graphite, glazing on paper, 38 x 25 ½ in.,

The New-York Historical Society

• What is the medium?• What materials/tools were

used to make the work?• How is the work composed

or designed?• When and where was it

made?• Where has the work been

since it was made? Who has owned it? (provenance)

• Where is the work now?• What is its condition?• Has it been modified or

conserved?• Who designed and/or made

the work? Is it original or a copy?

• Who is considered “the artist”?

• Is the work part of a series or not?

• Where does it fit into the artist’s career and stylistic development?

1. The Art Object 2. Cultural Context

• For what purpose(s) did the artist make the work?

• What was the intended audience? (reception)

• What is the subject matter (iconography)?

• How has the artist interpreted the subject matter?

• What broader traditions and stylistic trends does the work exemplify?

• What does the work reveal about the artist’s biography or state of mind?

• What values or philosophical ideas does the work express or embody?

• How does the work exemplify its historical moment?

• Is it a great or minor work?• How influential has it been?

Getting to Know a Work of Art

John James Audubon, Golden Eagle, 1833Watercolor, pastel, graphite, and selective glazing on paper, 38 x 25 ½ in.,

The New-York Historical Society

John James Audubon, Self-Portrait, 1826Graphite on paper, Private collection

Walton Ford demonstrating Audubon’s method of posing of dead birds, in John James Audubon: Drawn from Nature (directed by Lawrence Hott for Bullfrog Films and American Masters, 2006)

Walton Ford demonstrating Audubon’s method of posing of dead birds, in John James Audubon: Drawn from Nature (directed by Lawrence Hott for Bullfrog Films and American Masters, 2006)

Walton Ford demonstrating Audubon’s method of posing of dead birds, in John James Audubon: Drawn from Nature (directed by Lawrence Hott for Bullfrog Films and American Masters, 2006)

Walton Ford demonstrating Audubon’s method of posing of dead birds, in John James Audubon: Drawn from Nature (directed by Lawrence Hott for Bullfrog Films and American Masters, 2006)

Walton Ford demonstrating Audubon’s method of posing of dead birds, in John James Audubon: Drawn from Nature (directed by Lawrence Hott for Bullfrog Films and American Masters, 2006)

John James Audubon, Chuck-will’s-widow, 1822Watercolor, graphite, oil paint, and selective glazing on paper, 23 5/8 x 18 ¾ in.,

The New-York Historical Society

Alan Gehret, Curator of the Audubon Center, Henderson, KY, with copper plate for the American Bittern from The Birds of

America, pl. 337

John James Audubon, American Bittern, 1836Published in The Birds of America, pl. 337

Robert Havell after John James Audubon, Copper Engraving Plate of Common Loon, 1830

Copper, 41 ½ x 28 ½ n., American Museum of Natural History, New York

Robert Havell after John James Audubon, Common Loon, 1830

Uncolored engraving on paper, 41 ½ x 28 ½ in., American Museum of Natural History, New York

Robert Havell after John James Audubon, Common Loon, 1830Hand-colored engraving from The Birds of America

John James Audubon, Golden Eagle, 1833Watercolor, pastel, graphite, and selective glazing on paper, 38 x 25 ½ in.,

The New-York Historical Society

Robert Havell after Audubon, Golden Eagle, 1833-38Hand-colored engraving from The Birds of America, plate 181

John James Audubon, Golden Eagle, 1833, detailWatercolor, pastel, graphite, and selective glazing on paper, 38 x 25 ½ in.,

The New-York Historical Society

Robert Havell after Audubon, Golden Eagle, 1833, detailHand-colored engraving, 37 ¼ x 26 ½ in., plate 181 from The Birds of America

John Syme, John James Audubon, 1826Oil on canvas, 35 x 27 in., White House Collection, Washington, D.C.