The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 92, July 1988 - April, 1989 Page: 466
682 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
had caused him to color the paintings wrongly, and he had to repaint
almost twenty pictures.7
Stuart admits that Scott is the better artist of the pair, while claiming
that he, Stuart, is the outgoing organizer, spokesman, and writer. With
Scott turning out the bird portraits in his well-known dry brush tech-
nique, Stuart began marshaling their resources. He knew their dream
book would be expensive, but just how expensive he did not realize un-
til they were much too far into the project to back out, with both their
and their printer's financial solvency hanging in the balance.
Then the Gentlings tackled the problem of an author for the text.
"The idea of having John Graves do this book just excited me," Stuart
recalled. "I never thought of another person." After looking at a num-
ber of the paintings, Graves consented to the task. "I wanted a self-
contained work of art," Stuart told him, "with a beginning, a middle,
and an end. I don't care if you don't mention a bird in it."8 As usual,
Graves is equal to the task, with a lambent essay that recalls the Texas of
an earlier day, with all its naive regionalism and crudity, and, finally,
places birds and their hunters-whether armed with a shotgun or bin-
oculars-in a recognizably contemporary setting.
In 1984 the brothers began to show their bird paintings to enthusi-
astic audiences. They pre-sold a number of books and opened an es-
crow account at the bank. Stuart negotiated a loan and talked with
possible backers about touring the paintings. Meanwhile, other pieces
of the financial puzzle fell into place. The Fort Worth Museum of Sci-
ence and History had become interested in acquiring the entire collec-
tion of paintings after several of their trustees had subscribed to the
book. Then, in December, as Stuart browsed through a catalogue that
had just arrived from the Philadelphia Print Shop, he spotted a small
black and white illustration of a watercolor of two boattail grackles that
was attributed to Audubon. The price was only $ 8,ooo, indicating that
the dealer was unsure of the attribution, for a genuine Audubon water-
color was worth much more. Stuart remembered that Audubon's first
published work was a picture of boattail grackles and immediately
called the shop to inquire about it. Does the painting include any pas-
tels, a characteristic of Audubon's work during the mid-182os? Is there
shellac or varnish along the upper outlines of the beaks and eyes,
another Audubon trademark? Are there any pencil marks indicating
feathers? Audubon frequently fletched the feathers in with pencil when
he was under pressure. The answer in all cases was yes, and Stuart felt,
7Blow, "Fhghts of Fancy."
8Gentling to R. T.466
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 92, July 1988 - April, 1989, periodical, 1989; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101212/m1/520/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.