National Sporting Library & Museum FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: 04/10/2025 Contact Julie Banner Phone 540-687-6542 ext. 25 Email JBanner@NationalSporting.org Web NationalSporting.org Mail P.O. Box 1335 Middleburg, VA 20118 OAK SPRING GARDEN FOUNDATION AND
NATIONAL SPORTING LIBRARY & MUSEUM PARTNER FOR IMPORTANT EXHIBITIONS at the National Sporting Library & Museum MIDDLEBURG, Virginia – April 10, 2025 – In an exciting partnership with Oak Spring Garden Foundation (OSGF), in Upperville, VA, the National Sporting Library & Museum (NSLM) is organizing two significant exhibitions. Intrepid Audubon: The Birds of America, on view in the NSLM’s Museum and the complementary exhibition, Drawn to Nature: 300 Years of Natural History Illustration, in the NSLM’s Library, contextualize John James Audubon’s work and are on view from April 12–September 13, 2025. Tony Willis and Carter Hulinsky of OSFG noted, “This new partnership celebrates our joint dedication to art, nature, and land conservation, as well as our shared commitment to our local community.” The Museum exhibition explores the creation of the seminal publication, The Birds of America (1827–1838), by John James Audubon. The self-taught artist’s expeditions as a hunter-naturalist and artist to document 489 North American bird species, created a stunning avian catalogue. Although he is acknowledged today to have been a controversial figure and enslaver, Audubon’s work remains foundational to wildlife art and the bird conservation movement. NSLM’s President & CEO Elizabeth von Hassell noted, “Addressing these complexities is central to Intrepid Audubon, which seeks to present a comprehensive, and unvarnished portrait of the man and his important legacy.” The centerpiece is a bound, first edition of Audubon’s groundbreaking series, The Birds of America, a fourvolume double-elephant folio of hand-colored engravings—generously on loan for the first time to another institution by the OSGF. These magnificent books, with 39” tall spines, are displayed opened to images that highlight: Audubon as a bold and polarizing figure; the endangerment and extinction of several bird species; the artistic significance of the engravings; and the quality of the printing process. Visitors have the opportunity to virtually explore all the images contained in the volumes through an interactive display. An original copper printing plate from the first edition is also on loan from OSGF, and a vibrant and dynamic selection of framed engravings from The Birds of America are on loan from the National Museum of Wildlife, Jackson, WY, and The Morgan D. Delaney and Osborne Phinizy Mackie Collection. - more -