Louis Agassiz Fuertes (1874-1927)

Louis Agassiz Fuertes (1874-1927) was born and worked most of his life in Ithaca, N.Y. By the time he was eight, he was already deeply interested in observing and drawing birds. An important part of his inspiration came from the work of John James Audubon whose Birds of America he pored over at the Ithaca Public Library. By the time he graduated from Cornell University, he had already begun publishing his illustrations. His first commission was from Elliott Coues of the Smithsonian Institution, a leading ornithologist of the day. This quickly launched him into a very active career. He became the first person to make a successful living exclusively as a bird artist. Just as Audubon influenced every bird painter since the early 1800s by "drawing from life," Fuertes added to the tradition by presenting birds not only accurately, but also capturing their natural and behavioral characteristics. The extent of his influence is summed up by Roger Tory Peterson, the most famous and influential bird artist of more recent times. "We can accurately say that there is a "Fuertes School" of bird painting even to this day, more than four decades after his death. Nearly all American bird artists have been influenced to some extent by the bird portraiture of Fuertes." (Used by permission, New York State Museum).

Purchase a print of Fuertes Gambel's quail painting from the National Geographic Image Collection here.

Additional Fuertes illustrations are on-line at National Geographic here