Major league baseball kicked off on Sunday, so we decided to merge arts and sports for today’s release—and we think it’s a real home run. Audubon’s American art and America’s national pastime come together with “the baseball birds”: Plate 12: Baltimore Oriole, Plate 102: Blue Jay, and Plate 159: Cardinal Grosbeak.
Plate 12: Baltimore Oriole by John James Audubon
10"x8" ($24) | 14"x11" ($60) | 20"x16" ($240) | 30"x24" ($800)
What does baseball mean to us as art appreciators? Well, there’s no denying we enjoy the sport! Spending a sunny afternoon in a baseball stadium eating hot dogs and cracker jacks, cheering on your favorite team, is good old Americana. (You can tell by how many Hollywood films have been made about baseball!) And of course, we love all the art inspired by the sport.
Plate 102: Blue Jay by John James Audubon
10"x8" ($24) | 14"x11" ($60) | 20"x16" ($240) | 30"x24" ($800)
While Audubon may not have been inspired by baseball (though he was alive for its creation in 1845), each of these beautiful birds have a Major League Baseball team named after them: the St. Louis Cardinals, the Baltimore Orioles, and the Toronto Blue Jays (all three of which won their first games of the season!) Though birds aren’t top picks when it comes to intimidating mascots, we love that this all-American sport has chosen birds native to North America to represent their teams.
Plate 159: Cardinal Grosbeak by John James Audubon
10"x8" ($24) | 14"x11" ($60) | 20"x16" ($240) | 30"x24" ($800)
Audubon can claim some “all-American” titles himself: many refer to him as the original “American woodsman”, and others say he is one of the founding fathers of American art. Most clear, however, is that Audubon’s life is the archetypal American dream. Born a poor child in Haiti and raised abroad, he came back to the United States where he attempted to make a living in Kentucky and failed. He was thrown into jail and eventually driven out of town, but he believed in his mission to document the birds of North America. He left his family to explore the United States—likely seeing more of the country than anyone else alive at that time—and became an overnight success in Europe, where his striking portraits of the natural world caught the eyes (and hearts) of the continent. He returned to the United States a legend in both the scientific and artistic communities.
So have we created the most American art release ever? Possibly. But more importantly—you better snatch up these editions before they’re going, going, gone!
With art for everyone,
Team 20x200
