Plate 154 Tennessee Warbler 

Curator: Looking at this print, I’m struck by its peaceful stillness, almost a hushed reverence for the natural world. It's a relatively small bird, so subtly rendered. Editor: You’re right, there is something incredibly gentle about it. What we’re looking at is “Plate 154 Tennessee Warbler,” part of John James Audubon’s ambitious “Birds of America” series. Audubon was very keen on bringing this project into the homes of families, so a tone of calm contemplation makes sense from that perspective. Curator: The precision is astonishing! Especially when you think this isn’t a photograph, but watercolour and print. It captures the fragility of this little bird perched among the leaves and berries, almost as if caught in a moment of serene observation, you know. Do you find something of the sublime in that silence? Editor: Yes, but also in the knowledge surrounding the series—Audubon's undertaking was truly a titanic effort of documentation in a rapidly changing landscape. A changing world where documenting it becomes urgent and deeply connected with industrialization. Curator: Urgency…that makes me see it differently. Editor: Precisely. Think of Audubon navigating the shifting cultural attitudes toward science and the environment during the 19th century. Curator: So the simple composition and soft rendering can't really hide a sense of unease at looming loss. Editor: Absolutely, the visual representation served as both education and advocacy and functioned politically—depicting natural wonders with, as you say, incredible artistic skill was also strategic. Curator: Like he was racing to preserve its image against time. It adds a bittersweet quality that makes the bird feel all the more alive and precious. Editor: In many ways Audubon anticipated the very idea of a political artist whose creative expression could be a real activist pursuit. Curator: Looking at it that way certainly transforms the picture. Suddenly it feels very big despite its miniature qualities! Thanks. Editor: My pleasure, perhaps we gave listeners more food for thought today too.