Audubon’s Aviary: Part I of the Complete Flock is the first of three exciting annual exhibitions that will offer an unprecedented opportunity for visitors to explore the evolution of Audubon’s dazzling watercolors in the order in which they were engraved. Around 200 watercolors will tell the earliest chapter of how Audubon developed his innovative, signature depictions and experimental media. Supplementing New-York Historical's holdings, which begin in 1808, New-York Historical will also borrow a selection of rare, early pastels from several collections. The second and third installments, Part II (2014) and Part III of the Complete Flock (2015), will continue this extraordinary investigation through his later works, when he began including western species and was rushing to complete his quest. The series will reveal the multiple reasons why history has acclaimed him an American icon and deemed New-York Historical's watercolors a national treasure.

Considered America’s first great watercolorist, the legendary naturalist-artist rendered his birds in unparalleled life-size scale and also captured them with all the vivid drama of their avian life. His years drawing portraits to support his family, coupled with his passion for drawing birds, enabled him to capture the individuality of each species in inventive tableaux. Since every avian watercolor is based on a lifetime of observation and study, they characterize the essence of each bird in arresting, often cinematic, images that soar beyond illustration to magically capture the fragile, often brutal and endangered balance of nature. Featuring new findings about the artist’s working methods and his ornithological and artistic influences, Audubon’s Aviary will illuminate his true genius. Enriching these offerings will be a range of fascinating objects drawn from New-York Historical's rich Audubon collection, the largest single repository of Auduboniana in the world.

In 1863, during the height of the Civil War, New-York Historical purchased 434 of the 435 models (plus the 36 additional studies) by subscription from the naturalist’s widow, Lucy Bakewell Audubon. The final examples were given to New-York Historical in 1962 and 1966. With Audubon’s peripatetic existence, the survival of this trove in such pristine condition is miraculous.