Consul General Speeches

Opening of the Exhibit of John James Audubon’s, Birds of America, Teylers Museum, Haarlem, November 3, 2007

Good morning ladies and gentlemen.

On behalf of Roland Arnall, U.S. Ambassador to The Netherlands, I would like to extend my special thanks to Marjan Scharloo, the Teylers Museum and Vogelbescherming Nederland for organizing this exhibition on the study of birds from the late eighteenth century to the present.  And I am particularly grateful that you have invited me to join you at the opening of this important exhibition.

The Teylers Museum is extraordinarily fortunate to have one of the rare copies of the original double elephant edition of John James Audubon’s seminal work, The Birds of America.  So many of us are familiar with John James Audubon’s work through the engravings in this impressive volume.  The Birds of America was revolutionary for its time, forging a bond between art and science, and depicting birds in their natural positions and habitats.  It is a work of both precision and beauty.  And it served to capture some of the mystery and grandeur of the American wilderness.

Audubon’s life story is a fascinating one.  Born in what is now Haiti to a French sea captain and his chambermaid, Audubon grew up in comfortable surroundings in France before being dispatched to the United States in 1803 to oversee a farm his father had purchased in 1789.  Yet from a very young age he developed a keen interest in hunting, collecting wildlife specimens, and drawing and painting.  He developed a passion for exploration that interfered with conventional success but certainly drove his life’s work.  After enduring many hardships and finding no commercial interest in his remarkable portrayals of birdlife, Audubon traveled to the United Kingdom where he eventually was able to gain financial support for a revolutionary “frontier birds” printing project.  Collaborating with Robert Havell, Jr. the “American woodsman” and the London engraver together created the 435 stunning life-sized, hand colored plates that became The Birds of America.

Like so many others in the United States and all over the world, I can remember being drawn to Audubon’s extraordinary illustrations for their detail, and also for their vitality.  How thrilling to see a pair of red tailed hawks “captured” in watercolor as they reel through the sky, or to catch a glimpse of an exotic scarlet ibis.  I spent many weekends during my childhood taking long walks with my grandparents on their farm in upstate New York where we routinely saw many of the birds depicted in The Birds of America:  hawks, swallows, bluebirds, pairs of cardinals, red winged starlings (or red-winged blackbirds as we called them), woodpeckers and even the occasional owl.  What my grandparents and these encounters with the beauty of the natural world were quietly instilling in me was a lifelong appreciation of the beauty – and sanctity – of the natural world and an abiding interest in conservation.  And in that regard I am very pleased to hear that the Teylers Museum has created opportunities for student groups to visit this exhibition.

John James Audubon was to become one of the most renowned wildlife artists of his time.  In addition to his beautiful work he left to us a legacy of concern for the natural world.  And today, the society to which he lends his name maintains as its founding objective, “to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and other wildlife for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity.”

I understand the Teylers Museum is planning to reveal a different page of The Birds of America every day during the exhibition.  Let’s hope that these marvelous illustrations continue to inspire new generations of artists, naturalists and conservationists.

Thank you very much for being here this morning and I hope you enjoy the exhibition.