Oriole in an Old Apple Tree

From the mysticism of parietal art to the pretty plates of modern ornithological guides, wildlife art has never ceased to represent the links that unite man to
the animal world. Many agree that the work of the naturalist painter John James Audubon (1785-1851) serves as a link between the purely documentary rendering of species and the more artistic and sensitive approach that will lead to the first paintings bearing an environmentalist message. Speaking more generally, Wassily Kandinsky, an art theorist, defines the meaning and mission of a successful pictorial work: “Painting is an art, and art as a whole is not a creation aimlessly flowing into the void. It is a power whose purpose must be to develop and improve the human soul.”

Gabriel Leblanc, biographer

Excerpt from FRISSON SACRÉ du monde sauvage