Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month!

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month SCRGP wants to highlight the incredible work of Louis Agassiz Fuertes, a talented naturalist artist of Spanish-Puerto Rican descent born in 1874. Fuertes is often considered to be one of the most influential illustrators of American Ornithology, having produced thousands of incredibly detailed illustrations of birds from around the world. His work has appeared in numerous publications including a series in National Geographic Magazine. Fuertes’s style is self-proclaimed as “bird portraiture” as his paintings not only present a bird’s form but also the sense of stare and personality found in the faces of the birds he encountered.

Fuertes participated in various field expeditions around the world, collecting and painting numerous specimens and recording the visual and behavioral observations he made of the birds he studied. While not traveling Fuertes was a lecturer of ornithology at Cornell University where he captivated students through his storytelling, inspired by the birds who filled his paintings. Fuertes passion fostered the creation of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in 1915, which to this day remains a leader in the study of ornithology.

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For more information on the term Hispanic check out National Public Radio’s Podcast Code Switch.

Sources:

Google Arts & Culture: Louis Agassiz Fuertes https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/louis-agassiz-fuertes-us-fish-and-wildlife-service/PQICV6nTdY1vIw?hl=en

Biodiversity Library Exhibition-Louis A. Fuertes http://latinonaturalhistory.biodiversityexhibition.com/en/card/louis-a-fuertes