Closed Captioned
Grades 7-12, College, Adult
Directed by Lawrence Hott
Produced by Lawrence Hott and Diane Garey for American Masters
DVD Purchase $250, Rent $85
VHS Purchase $250, Rent $85
US Release Date: 2007
Copyright Date: 2006
DVD ISBN: 1-59458-661-6
VHS ISBN: 1-59458-660-8
Subjects
American Studies
Art/Architecture
Biography
Birds
Conservation
Environment
Environmental Ethics
Geography
History
Humanities
Life Science
Wildlife
Awards and Festivals
Editors' Choice Selection, ALA's Booklist
CINE Golden Eagle
Silver Chris Award, Columbus International Film & Video Festival
Best Environmental Art Film, EarthVision International Environmental Film Festival
Best of Festival List, Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival
Merit Award, International Wildlife Film Festival, Missoula
Honorable Mention, Montana CINE
Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital
Napa Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival
Greendance Film Festival
John James Audubon
Drawn From Nature
The life story of one of America's singular pioneers, artist and naturalist John James Audubon.
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"Riveting program that emphasizes Audubon's creative genius and lasting legacy." Booklist |
The story of John James Audubon is a dramatic and surprising one. He saw more of the North American continent than virtually anyone of his time, and came to stand for America - the America of wilderness and wild things. Audubon was a self-taught artist and a self-made man whose life was rife with action and contradiction. He played the debonair European when he visited the American frontier, and then the wild woodsman in the drawing rooms of Europe.
As an artist and a naturalist his achievements are monumental. The Birds of America - an astonishing collection of 435 life-size prints - was the largest book printed in the 19th century. Audubon was not only the artist; he was the writer, publisher and promoter. His early subscribers included the kings of England and France.
Audubon continued to draw, creating a smaller folio of even more birds, and embarking on a major study of mammals. This book, The Viviparous Quadrupeds of America, was only half-done in 1846, when he turned the work over to his son. His eyesight was failing, as was his mind.
Other films by Larry Hott and Diane Garey are The Return of the Cuyahoga, The Harriman Alaska Expedition Retraced and The Boyhood of John Muir.
Reviews
"Visually stunning and totally engrossing...The program easily moves between realistic dramatizations, scenic outdoor footage, pans of bird prints, and interviews with authors, artists, and museum curators, who offer intriguing insight into the man who 'was a drama waiting to happen.' The artist's personal and professional life, including his failed struggles as a merchant who declared bankruptcy before temporarily leaving his family in 1820 on an epic quest to paint and identify all the birds in the U.S., are gloriously revealed in this riveting program that emphasizes Audubon's creative genius and lasting legacy."
Booklist, Editors' Choice
"John James Audubon: Drawn From Nature explores Audubon's magnificent Birds of America in light of his riches-to-rags-to-riches life, a tale embellished and exploited by the artist himself. The film lingers over lush, crisp details that will impress even Audubon aficionados. In addition to the classics, we are treated to close views of some less familiar prints showing avian victims of human violence. Expert commentary provides a clear bridge between Audubon's indiscriminate 'collecting' practices, his eventual witness to species' decline, and late nineteenth- century identification of the Audubon name with conservation. The film is especially valuable for explication of his technique: don't miss the special feature with contemporary artist Walton Ford's reenactment of Audubon's original working methods. Drawn From Nature is enlightening for the general public and it will prove a fine classroom resource sure to elicit serious discussion."
Dr. Linda Dugan Partridge,
Associate Professor, Art History, Marywood University
"This film offers an accurate, compelling, and thorough critical account of the life and career of nineteenth-century America's premier ornithologist and one of its most accomplished environmental artists and writers. The biography is remarkably comprehensive, yet not rushed. Audubon's achievements as an artist are clarified by the contrasting illustrations of Alexander Wilson, by the fluid movement from films of live birds to Audubon's paintings of the same species, and by the careful explanation of the painstaking processes of engraving, printing, and hand- coloring the plates of The Birds of America. The re-enactment by artist Walton Ford of Audubon's method of posing the birds he drew is especially welcome and helpful because it teaches us a greater appreciation of the art by deepening our understanding of Audubon's method. Also welcome is the considerable attention given to the importance of Lucy Audubon to her husband's life and work. By embracing the various paradoxes of Audubon's character, andby drawing appropriate parallels between the development of Audubon's thought and the rapidly changing environment in early America, this film succeeds in not oversimplifying a cultural moment of great cultural significance."
Daniel Patterson, Coordinator of Graduate Studies, Department of English, Central Michigan University, Editor of Early American Nature Writers: A Biographical Encyclopedia
"This well produced biographical narrative provides one with an insightful and balanced portrayal about the paradoxical American artist, writer, publisher and promoter- John James Audubon. Visually beautiful and historically compelling, this film presents noteworthy information about the production of the 435 life-size print collection titled Birds of America, as well as the sacrifices Audubon made in order to fulfill his life long dream. This impressive film, Drawn From Nature, sheds light not only on Audubon's passionate dedication to the project but also presents a rich contextual background about art in the 19th century-a pre- photographic era when mechanical reproduction technology was very limited. I sincerely found it a relevant narrative and an educational documentary."
Elaine A. King, Professor, History of Art, Theory and Museum Studies, Carnegie Mellon University
"The writing, production, and presentation is first-rate. The recounting of Audubon's life, particularly in the context of America's adolescence and westward expansion, is stirring and evocative. This title is highly recommended for academic, public and school library collections."
Christopher Hollister, University at Buffalo Libraries, State University of New York, Educational Media Reviews Online
"A visual feast, combining exquisite nature footage with a graceful appreciation of Audubon's artwork...An exceptional film about an exceptional man, this is highly recommended."
Video Librarian, Editor's Choice
"This documentary profiles a man who was larger than life, providing beautiful detail of Audubon's artwork as well as a portrait of the states of art, science and environmental awareness in the first decades of the 19th century. The environmental legacy of our forefathers and Audubon's impact on the conservation movement of today are also examined."
Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital Program
"The life of great American nature artist Audubon, born the bastard child of a French sea captain and a Haitian servant girl, was a study in contradictions as he took great pains to hide his shameful origins even as he was rigorously devoted to exquisitely truthful detail in his art. An engaging and extravagant personality..."
Critic's Choice, Henrietta Walmark, The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
"The person that emerges here is an appealing and fascinating character."
Nancy Dewolf Smith, The Wall Street Journal
"Reveals a larger-than-life character who reflects both the promise and excess of the young American nation."
Kevin McDonough, United Features Syndicate