Lot #40: Audubon Birds of America collection “Ruffed Grouse” 19.5 x 27 inches

Audubon / Havell / Loates Master Editions - Original Graphics 10 image collection created from the Birds of America original Audubon/ Havell engravings with one of a kind Graphic Painting.  “Ruffed Grouse" Numbered 627 of 750 This series is made up of 10 images and when purchased together would have been presented in the black folder that is sold as a separate lot. All 10 images are in this auction, buy one or collect them all! In the late 80’s and early 1990’s, Loates tackled his most challenging and creative project to date.  The John James Audubon Master Edition series of prints are among the finest made prints in the world and in 1993 Bernard was awarded for his unparalleled achievement with the prestigious Gutenberg Award of Excellence.  Master lithographer M. Bernard Loates created these very limited edition prints of Audubon images in 1992. The goal was to recreate these pieces as Audubon would have wanted them done – all would be identical with true consistent coloring. Working from original Havell/Audubon engravings, Loates and his crew of printing and colorist master craftsmen began by stripping the images back to the original 1820’s black line engravings. Bird skins were borrowed from museums so that the colorists could accurately match the original bird colors. The colorists hand-mixed German “Light Fast” inks to match the actual live plumage of the birds depicted. Colors were added one at a time, maximum 1 color per working day, using hand-cut overlays. No image had fewer than 32 passes through the single-color press. It took up to 6 months to complete the images and nearly 70% of the stock was wasted in production testing and aligning. The extremely fine 400 line screens produce a photograph-like continuous tone image even under magnafication. Unframed. Professionally packaged Sheet size 19 1/2 x 27 inches, image is 15.5 x 13.5 Dimensions: 19 x 27 Pickup category timeslot {A}