Animal Sciences Commons^™

Louis A. Fuertes And The Zoological Art Of The 1926–1927 Abyssinian Expedition Of The Field Museum Of Natural History, Paul A. Johnsgard

Papers in Ornithology

The year 2009 marked the 110th anniversary of the first colored reproduction of a Fuertes painting; a watercolor of two seaside sparrows published in The Auk, when Fuertes was about 25 years old. Although Fuertes' life spanned little more than a half-century, and most living ornithologists were born after his tragic 1927 death, his influence on natural history art has not lessened. This manuscript is a testimony to his enduring artistic legacy.

I first looked in awe at the original set of Fuertes paintings in the summer of 1995, during a visit to the Field Museum in conjunction with …