John James Audubon: Entrepreneur, Naturalist, Patriot, Fraud

During this talk, Dr. James Denison will examine John James Audubon’s multinational background, transatlantic audience, and the nationalist ambitions behind his celebrated publication, The Birds of America. While Audubon’s book is now synonymous with naturalism in America, it was made with the intention of constructing particular ideas about place, identity, and nationhood in order to appeal to customers on both sides of the Atlantic. The result was a book as beautiful as it was expensive and evocative, yet also one that often cut corners, misrepresenting, fabricating, and plagiarizing in the name of commercial success. Please note that this program will comprise a prerecorded lecture by Dr. Denison screened in the auditorium, followed by a lightly guided gallery exploration. James Denison recently concluded his term as the Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow for the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts and Visiting Assistant Professor of Art History at Kalamazoo College, a joint position held since 2023. A native of Washington, D.C., he earned his Ph.D. in Art History at the University of Michigan, where he completed his dissertation on the Stieglitz Circle and racism in the interwar US. He has published scholarship in the journals Word & Image, Panorama, CAA.Reviews, and Art Journal. While at the KIA, he worked on multiple exhibitions and wrote for two catalogues: 101 Legendary Selections from the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts and Art, Music & Feminism in the 1950s.