John James Audubon, Ulrick Jean-Pierre

In his Louisiana Historical Painting series, Jean-Pierre portrays prominent figures with connections to both Haiti and New Orleans, such as John James Audubon (née Jean-Jacques Audubon), the famous ornithologist and painter who was born in Les Cayes, Saint-Domingue, in 1785. In 1789, increasing violence and unrest led Audubon’s father to move his family first to Philadelphia and later to France. At age 18, Audubon used a false passport to immigrate to the United States, where he anglicized his name and lived in several states before settling permanently in Louisiana. Audubon became renowned for his extensive studies of birds in their natural environment. His main work, The Birds of America (1827–1839), identified 25 new species and is regarded as one
of the most important and essential volumes of that time. Many Haitian painters, such as those represented to your left and right, have been similarly inspired by nature, and birds in particular.