Louis Agassiz Fuertes

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Louis Agassiz Fuertes

Louis Agassiz Fuertes (born February 7, 1874 in Ithaca , † August 22, 1927 in Unadilla , New York ) was an American ornithologist , illustrator and artist .

Live and act

family

Louis Agassiz Fuertes' father Estevan Antonio Fuertes (1836-1903), born in San Juan , Puerto Rico , came from an important Spanish family. He was closely associated with Cornell University from 1873 until his death , where he served as director and dean of the engineering department. His mother Mary Stone Perry Fuertes (1840–1930) was born in Troy (New York). Their ancestors came from England and the Netherlands. Since the father was a more ardent admirer of the naturalist Louis Agassiz (1807–1873), the family named their youngest son after him. Fuertes had three brothers named Felix Juan Estevan Fuertes (1861–), James Hillhouse Fuertes (1863–1932), George Perry Fuertes (1865–1878) and two sisters named Sarah Demetria Fuertes Hitchcock (1868-), Mary Katherine Fuertes (1872– ). Fuertes lived in Ithaca throughout his life. In 1904 he married Margaret F. Summer, the daughter of Dr. Albert and Harriet (née Beers) Summer, with whom he fathered the children Louis and Mary Fuertes.

education

Even as a child his talent for painting showed. At the age of eight he began to combine this ability with his second passion, birds. In 1884 he sent him a picture of a snowy owl in a letter to his brother James. In the following three years he made further pictures of birds, which brought him general recognition in his environment. Without the help of an experienced ornithologist or artist, he was driven by his desire to further develop this talent on his own initiative. At the age of 14 he painted a male crossbill ( Loxia curvirostra ) and thus became a skilled bird painter. The details of the copper-brown plumage, its beak, its body had never been seen so clearly before. But his powers of observation were not limited to painting. His observation notes were accurate and he was able to imitate the birdsong of different species in a deceptively realistic manner. So he was not only a talented painter and ornithologist, but also a musician and author.

In 1890, Louis' mother wrote to her son James that Louis had sent a rare species of bird to the Smithsonian Institution and asked for more information from there. This experience was probably his first contact with professional ornithologists. He was supported in this development by Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858–1954), who began at Cornell University in 1889 and who was already very impressed by Fuertes' pictures. Another mentor was the zoologist and professor Burt Green Wilder (1841–1925), who asked him to make some animal tablets.

In June 1892 Louis accompanied his parents to Europe. He visited the Jardin des Plantes to design birds and other animals. In September of the same year he attended the "Institut Keller", a private school in Zurich , which he attended until 1893. Realizing his son's lack of interest in studying history, his father returned to America. Many pictures of European birds were taken during this time. His works from this period were so different that even experts who knew his work would hardly have assigned them to Fuertes. All works between 1890 and 1894 were outlined in ink, then colored and then filled in with pen and ink.

After returning to the States, Louis attended Cornell University. In the first two years he attended lectures in architecture, but there was no interest in algebra and geometry. To his chagrin, there were no ornithology courses at that time. In addition to his diverse interests, Fuertes took an active part in university life. His musical talent made him a member of the Cornell University Glee Club , a university choral society. He was the head of the club for two years.

In 1894 he went on tour with the club and came among other things. a. to Washington. One of the members informed Fuertes that he had an uncle named Samuel Elliott Coues (1842–1899) who was very interested in birds. So he got to know an important ornithologist of this time, who contributed significantly to the advancement of his career. Fuertes was in regular mail contact with Coues. So Coues invited him to the thirteenth AOU Congress in Washington, DC in 1896 , which took place on November 11, 1895, to make Fuertes works known in the ornithological circles.

Fuertes was unable to take part this year, but Coues presented some works that were very well received by experts. A year later, on Coues 'advice, Fuertes appeared in person for the first time at the American Ornithologists' Union Congress . Here he got the opportunity to explain his previously unpublished works and to make important contacts. Many of the featured images appeared in Citizen Bird by Mabel Osgood Wright (1859-1934) and Samuel Elliott Coues, and comparing his images with those in Birdcraft by Wright highlighted Fuertes' exceptional talent. Only Ernest Thompson Seton's (1860–1946) pictures showed similar quality at the time.

In July 1897, the month after he completed the university, located Fuertes went to Dublin ( New Hampshire ) for teaching at Abbott Thayer (1849-1921). He also got to know him at his first AOU congress, not because of Fuertes' pictures, but rather because of his competent comments on Thayer's lecture on the protective effect of coloring animal skins.

Although his entire life was linked to Cornell University, he did not become an employee of the university until 1922. He lectured on birds and his friend and mentor Arthur Augustus Allen (1885–1964) became his supervisor. According to Allen, Fuertes was a gifted speaker who cast a spell over his students in this field as well.

Research trips

In 1898, Fuertes accompanied Abbott H. Thayer and his son Gerald to Florida to gain new experience in the field. So far he had only known about New York's avifauna and lacked experience in collecting birds and taking study notes. They set up their headquarters in the department of Mrs. Frances EB Latham , which was in the east of the peninsula on the Indian River near Micco . Here in the middle of the primary forest , consisting of palmetto palms and oaks with bordering swampy savannas and mangrove islands , there was a lot of new things to discover for young Fuertes. The group later moved on and camped in Indian Field on the upper reaches of the St. Johns River .

In 1899 he took part in the Harriman Alaska Expedition . In 1901 he was part of a biological survey program that took its participants to western Texas and New Mexico . In 1902 he took part as an artist in an expedition to the Bahamas , which was sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH).

During the 1903 AOU Congress in San Francisco, he joined a group that visited the Farallon Islands . He then collected for the AMNH in the San Joaquin Valley , in Carmel-by-the-Sea , in Paicines in San Benito County , Prince's Camp in the Lake Tahoe region and Pyramid Lake . He also used his honeymoon in Jamaica in 1904 to gain a first glimpse into the avifauna of the Antilles .

Two years later, in 1906, he took part in a long AMNH expedition in the Saskatchewan prairies and the Canadian Rockies . Under the same auspices, he visited Cuthbert Rookery in southern Florida in 1908, which is now part of the Everglades . Together with Leonard Cutler Sanford (1868–1950), he moved to the Magdalene Islands and Bird Rock in 1909 and again in 1909 as a member of an AMNH research trip to Yucatán and eastern Mexico . Here he expanded his knowledge of the bird world of the continental tropics. He made use of this experience during further trips in 1911 and 1913, which took him to Colombia as part of further AMNH activities . Here he crossed the whole country from the Pacific coast to the Orinoco Delta.

After that, Fuertes had to limit his field research due to his many assignments, and until 1926 he only made smaller local trips. But from September 1926 to May 1927 he finally accompanied another AMNH group to Abyssinia . With in the group traveled Wilfred Hudson Osgood (1875-1947). Both wrote together on the book Artist and Naturalist in Ethiopia, which appeared posthumously in 1936. Fuertes died in an accident at the Potter's Crossing near Unadilla.

Memberships

At the age of 17, Louis Agassiz Fuertes was elected Associate of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) in 1891. In 1901 he rose to a member ( Member ) and in 1912 and to a companion ( Fellow ). He first took part in the fourteenth AOU Congress in Cambridge in 1896 .

In 1913, Fuertes was one of the founders of the Cayuga Bird Club . He opened the Renwick Wildlife Sanctuary in Stewart Park , which is now popularly known as the Fuertes Wildlife Sanctuary .

In 1927 he was awarded the title of Honorary Scout by the Boy Scouts of America , an award that was newly introduced that same year. This award was given to:

"American citizens whose achievements in outdoor activity, exploration and worthwhile adventure are of such an exceptional character as to capture the imaginations of boys ... (German: American citizens whose successes in activities in the great outdoors, in exploration and worthwhile adventures of such are exceptional in that they inspire the imagination of our youth. "

Dedication names

Fuertes-Trupial ( Icterus fuertesi )

Between February 23 and April 21, 1910, Fuertes collected birds in Mexico. He left the description of his collection to Frank Michler Chapman , who dedicated a subspecies of the garden trupial ( Icterus spurius fuertesi ) to him. According to the IOC World Bird List, it could even be a species of its own, and so the common name Fuertes’s Oriole can be found in English literature . Chapman wrote:

"For this new bird I propose the name Icterus fuertesi, in honor of Louis Agassiz Fuertes, not alone in recognition of his invaluable services to ornithology, but also because, attracted by its notes, he was the actual discoverer of the species to which his name is now given. (German: I propose the name Icterus fuertesi for this new bird, in honor of Louis Agassiz Fuertes, not only in recognition of his invaluable services, but also for his captivating notes. He was the real discoverer of this species for which his name is now used has been."

In 1912, in the first description of the Fuertes Parrot ( Hapalopsittaca fuertesi ), Chapman used the name Fuertes in honor, which is also reflected in the common English name Fuertes Parrot . In his publication, Chapman writes:

"I have named this interesting bird in honor of Mr. Louis Agassiz Fuertes, in recognition of the service which, not alone as artist, but in many other capacities he rendered the Museum's Colombian expedition. (German: I named this interesting bird in honor of Louis Agassiz Fuertes, in recognition of his services, not only as an artist, but also in many other functions that he performed during the museum's expedition. "

George Miksch Sutton (1898–1982) and Josselyn Van Tyne (1902–1957) paid tribute to Fuertes with a subspecies of the red-tailed buzzard ( Buteo jamaicensis fuertesi ). The English common name Fuertes's Red-tailed Hawk can also be found in the specialist literature . They justify their naming as follows:

"The name fuertesi is in honor of the late Louis Agassiz Fuertes, the world-renowned bird artist, who nineteen years ago was gracious enough to take the senior author under his tutelage, to help him in his problems of bird portraiture, to give him a lifetime's inspiration. Fuertes visited Brewster County , Taxas, in 1901. He doubtless saw Red-tailed Hawks at that time without realizing that they were of an undescribed form. We take pleasure in thus honoring Fuertes not alone because of his genius as an artist, but because of his interest in the birds of the Big Bend country . (German: The name fuertesi honors the late Louis Agassiz Fuertes, the world-famous artist who trained the lead author 19 years ago, helped him overcome his problems with bird portraits and gave him lifelong inspiration. Fuertes visited Brewster County, Texas in 1901. Without a doubt, without being aware of it, he observed red-tailed buzzards during this time and did not realize that this was an undescribed species. It is a pleasure for us to honor Fuertes not only for his creative spirit as an artist, but also because of it his interest in the birds of Big Bend Country. "

Herbert Friedmann (1900–1987) described another subspecies Tephrocorys cinerea fuertesi (corresponds to Tephrocorys cinerea fuertesi ) in his 1932 article Notes on the Abyssinian Red-capped Lark and Long-billed Pipit in Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington (Vol. 45, p. 163) the Erlanger Lark , Calandrella erlangeri ) with Fuertes' name. This taxon is now considered invalid.

Works

Louis Agassiz Fuertes made his first drawing at the age of 14. It was a male crossbill (Loxia curvirostra), a bird he had never seen before. He also painted mammals for National Geographic Magazine , with a focus on painting and drawing birds. In addition to his published works, there are still many unpublished works. The most important collection of unpublished works owned Frederick Foster Brewster (1872-1958) from New Haven with 25 oil paintings. Other private individuals also bought pictures of Fuertes. The following is an extract from his most important publications:

  • In the work A - birding on a bronco by Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey (1863-1948) from 1896, he contributed 22 pen and ink drawings.
  • From 1897 to 1899 in The Osprey - An Illustrated Monthly Magazine he published some ink drawings.
  • In 1897, 111 black and white drawings appeared in Citizen Bird by Mabel Osgood Wright and Samuel Elliott Coues.
  • 1899–1914 The Auk:
    • In The Distribution and Relationships of Ammodramus maritimus and its Allies in The Auk (Volume 16, Number 1) the first color print Fuertes with the two subspecies of the beach bunting (Ammodramus maritimus fisheri and Ammodramus maritimus sennetti).
    • In Outram Bangs ' (1863-1932) article The Hummingbirds of the Santa Marta Region of Colombia (Volume 16, Number 2, 1899).
    • In Jonathan Dwights Jr. (1858-1929) article Sequence of Plumages: Illustrated by the Myrtle Warbler (Dendroica coronata) and the Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens) (Volume 16, Number 3, 1899).
    • Witmer Stones (1866–1939) article Winter plumages: illustrated by the Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Zamelodia ludoviciana) (Volume 16, Number 4, 1899).
    • In January 1913 he designed the new cover of the magazine, which was still in use in 1914.
    • In 1914 in Chapman's article Description of a new oriole (Icterus fuertesi) from Mexico (Volume 28, Number 1, 1911).
    • In 1914 in Robert Cushman Murphys (1887–1973) article Preliminary description of a new petrel (Volume 31, Number 1, 1914) another work by Fuertes appeared.
  • 1899 For Clinton Hart Merriam (1855-1942) in Results of a Biological Survey of Mount Shasta, California ( North American Fauna, Number 16) he contributed 5 black and white plates.
  • 1901 For the book The Woodpeckers by Fannie Pearson Hardy Eckstorm (1865-1946) he painted 5 color plates.
  • 1901–1909 Yearbook of the US Department of Agriculture:
    • 1901 in Albert Kenrick Fishers (1856–1948) Two vanishing game birds - the woodcock and the wood duck 2 black-and-white plates,
    • 1903 in Sylvester Dwight Judds (1871–1905) The economic value of the bobwhite a color plate,
    • 1906 in Henry Worthington Olds (1859–1925) Cage-Bird Traffic of the United States a color plate,
    • 1907 in Henry W. Henshaws (1850–1930) Does it pay the Farmer to Protect Birds 4 black-and-white plates,
    • 1908 in Albert Kenrick Fishers The Economic Value of Predaceous Birds and Mammals 3 color plates,
    • 1909 in Henry Worthington Olds Introduction of the Hungarian partridge into the United States a color plate.
  • 1902 in Florence Augusta Merriam Baileys (1863–1948) Handbook of Birds of The Western United States 30 full-page black-and-white drawings and many washes in the text.
  • 1902 in Leander Sylvester Keysers (1856–1937) Birds of the Rockies (plates, 4 of them in color).
  • 1902 in the book Upland game birds by Edwyn Sandys and Theodore Strong Van Dyke (1842–1923) 5 black and white plates.
  • In Edward Henry Harriman (1848-1909), John Burroughs (1837-1921), Clinton Hart Merriam, John Muir (1838-1914), et al. The Harriman Alaska Expedition 30 complete pages in black and white and many washes in the text.
  • 1903 Samuel Elliott Coues (1842–1899) Key to North American birds over 200 washes in the text doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.53935 .
  • 1903 Leonard Cutler Sanford (1868–1950), Louis Bennett Bishop (1865–1950), Theodore Strong Van Dyke The Water-Fowl Family 14 black and white plates doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.54433 .
  • 1903 in Frank Michler Chapman's The Economic Value of Birds to the State 12 tables divided into four doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.56844 .
  • 1904–1926 many articles on Bird-Lore: an illustrated bi-monthly magazine devoted to the study and protection of birds.
  • 1905 in Sylvester Dwight Judds The Grouse and Wild Turkeys of the United States and Their Economic Value in Biological Survey - Bulletin No. 24 a color chart and a black-and-white chart.
  • 1907-1910 in Foster Ellenborough Lascelles Beals (1840-1916) Birds Of California - In Relation To The Fruit Industry Biological Survey, Bulletin No. 30 and 34, Part I 4 color plates, Part II 6 color plates.
  • 1908 in Waldo Lee McAtees (1883–1962) Food habits of the Grosbeaks Biological Survey, Bulletin No. 32, 3 color plates.
  • 1910 in Wells Woodbridge Cookes (1858–1916) Distribution and migration of North American shorebirds in Biological Survey - Bulletin No. 35 three black and white boards.
  • 1910–1914 in Elon Howard Eatons (1866–1934) Birds of New York 106 four-part panels.
  • 1911 in Foster Ellenborough Lascelles Beals Food of the Woodpeckers of the United States in Biological Survey - Bulletin No. 37, 5 color plates and 1 black-and-white plate. doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.55219 .
  • 1911 in Arthur Holmes Howells (1872-1940) Birds Of Arkansas in Biological Survey - Bulletin No. 38, 4 black-and-white tables doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.54467 .
  • 1911 in Waldo Lee McAtees Woodpeckers in Relation to Trees and Wood Products in Biological Survey - Bulletin No. 39, 2 color plates.
  • 1912 in Frank Michler Chapman's Handbook of birds of eastern North America: with introductory chapters on the study of birds in nature, 8 color plates, 7 black and white plates doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.54513 .
  • 1913 in Henry W. Henshaw's Fifty Common Birds of Farm and Orchard in Farmer's Bulletin, No. 513, 50 color illustrations in the text.
  • 1913–1916 in Henry W. Henshaw's articles in National Geographic Magazine, 250 color illustrations, re-published in 1918 in The Book of Birds of the National Geographic Society.
  • 1917 in Frank Michler Chapman's The distribution of bird-life in Colombia: a contribution to a biological survey of South America, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 36, 4 color tables doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.56497 .
  • 1918–1922 in Charles William Beebes (1877–1962) A Monograph of the Pheasants (4 volumes), 5 color plates.
  • 1919 in Ernest Harold Baynes (1868-1925) The book of dogs; an intimate study of mankind's best friend, 73 color portraits doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.15192 .
  • 1919 in Thornton Waldo Burgess (1874–1965) Bird Book for Children, 32 color plates doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.20184 .
  • 1923–1926 in John Charles Phillips (1876–1938) A natural history of ducks, 16 color plates, 9 black-and-white plates.
  • 1925 in Edward Howe Forbush's (1858–1929) The Birds of Massachusetts, 33 panels divided into four.
  • 1926 in Frank Michler Chapmans The distribution of bird-life in Ecuador: a contribution to a study of the origin of Andean bird-life, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 55, 5 color tables.
  • 1927 in Arthur Augustus Allen, Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Miles David Pirnie General ornithology: Laboratory notebook for the recording of observations made in the field and studies made in the laboratory on the birds of eastern North America many pen and ink drawings.
  • Portraits of New England Birds. Drawn in Color By Louis Agassiz Fuertes and Alan Brooks for Birds of Massachusetts and Other New England States, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1932.

Written publications:

  • Impression of the Voices of Tropical Birds, Bird-Lore, Vol XVI, No 1, 1914, pp. 1-3.
  • Impression of the Voices of Tropical Birds, Bird-Lore, Vol XVI, No 2, 1914, pp. 96-101.
  • Impression of the Voices of Tropical Birds, Bird-Lore, Vol XVI, No 3, 1914, pp. 161-169.
  • Impression of the Voices of Tropical Birds, Bird-Lore, Vol XVI, No 5, 1914, pp. 342-349.
  • Impression of the Voices of Tropical Birds, Bird-Lore, Vol XVI, No 6, 1914, pp. 421-428.
  • together with Wilfred Hudson Osgood, Artist and Naturalist in Ethiopia, Doubleday, Doran & company, 1936.
  • To a Young Bird Artist: Letters from Louis Agassiz Fuertes to George Miksch Sutton, University of Oklahoma Press, 1979.

gallery

literature

  • Frank Michler Chapman : In memoriam: Louis Agassiz Fuertes 1874–1927. In: The Auk. Volume 45, Number 1, 1928, pp. 1–26 ( original article ) (English; PDF file; 1.22 MB).
  • Robert McCracken Peck: A Celebration of Birds: The Life and Art of Louis Agassiz Fuertes. Walker & Company, 1982, ISBN 978-0-8027-0716-1 .
  • Frederick George Marcham: Louis Agassiz and the Singular Beauty of Bird. Cotler, 1972, ISBN 978-0-06-012775-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ pedigree family tree (English)
  2. ↑ Cayuga Bird Club (English)
  3. ↑ Times of August 29, 1927 National Affairs: Around the World (English)
  4. ↑ The Auk, Volume 28, Number 1, 1911 Frank Michler Chapman: Description of a new oriole (Icterus fuertesi) from Mexico (English; PDF file; 200 kB) Original article
  5. ↑ Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, Volume 31, Article 16, 1912 Frank Michler Chapman: Diagnoses of apparently new Colombian birds (English; PDF file; 3.99 MB) Original article
  6. ↑ Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology University of Michigan, Number 321, 1935 George Miksch Sutton, Josselyn Van Tyne: A new red-tailed hawk from Texas (English; PDF file; 165 kB) Original article

Web links

Commons : Louis Agassiz Fuertes  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Fuertes, Louis Agassiz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American ornithologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 7, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH Ithaca
DATE OF DEATH August 22, 1927
Place of death Unadilla