Book Signing: The Family of Hummingbirds: The Complete Prints of John Gould

The Most Complete Book Ever Produced of Gould’s Collection of Hummingbird Prints to be Published by Rizzoli Electa October 30, 2018

Joel Oppenheimer Gallery will host an author book signing at the gallery on Saturday, November 10, 2-5pm.

Joel and Laura Oppenheimer both hold degrees in fine art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and are owners of fine art galleries in Chicago and Charleston, South Carolina, known internationally for the works of John James Audubon and many renowned natural history artists (www.audubonart.com). 

They are also publishers of contemporary fine art prints, creating facsimile editions in partnership with museums in the United States and United Kingdom, including the New-York Historical Society, the Field Museum of Natural History, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England. One of the country’s foremost authorities on Audubon, Joel Oppenheimer is the author of The Birds of America: The Bien Chromolithographic Edition, edited by Laura Oppenheimer, published by W. W. Norton in 2013.  

The Family of Hummingbirds: The Complete Prints of John Gould, published by Rizzoli Electa, is the definitive illustrated book on John Gould’s celebrated hummingbird folio. Gould, a renowned naturalist, is also known as the “British Audubon.” The book showcases 418 superbly detailed hand-colored lithographs of hummingbirds created in the mid-1800s, representing all the known species at that time.  

In her essay for the book, Laura Oppenheimer tells the story of Gould’s colorful life and places his work in the context of a remarkable period when exploration and classification of the world’s natural wonders was at the forefront of scientific discovery and universally celebrated in Victorian popular culture. Joel Oppenheimer details how Gould created the prints and presents an overview of nineteenth-century printmaking and lithography techniques. He also unravels the mystery behind the gold-leaf process that Gould employed to portray the iridescent quality of the hummingbirds’ plumage, resolving a long-standing controversy regarding who should be credited for its invention. The Family of Hummingbirds will delight birdwatchers, fans of natural history art, and hummingbird lovers everywhere.  

 

For more info contact Wendy Levi Lienhart at 630.920.0182 or wbllienhart@gmail.com