The Art of Peterson and Audubon

“I consider myself to have been the bridge between the shotgun and the binoculars in bird watching,” Roger Tory Peterson said. “Before I came along, the primary way to observe birds was to shoot them and stuff them.”

In Roger Tory Peterson’s own words, John James Audubon was “the right man in the right place, in the right time”. Both men grew into household names for their artworks focused on birds, but between Peterson and Audubon, what was the outcome of their works, artistically and environmentally? The rise of the middle class and the reproductions of their work into more affordable versions heightened both their careers as artists and raised public interest in birds, birding, and conservation.

Both artists created art that allowed people to digest the natural world around them. Often referred to as “The Modern Audubon”, Roger Tory Peterson was arguably the artist that took over Audubon’s mantle as a bird artist. However, they were very different men.