Audubon, Snowy Owl, Plate 121

AUDUBON, John James (1785 - 1851).
Snowy Owl, Plate 121.
Aquatint engraving with original hand color.
London: Robert Havell, 1827-1838.
38 1/4" x 25 1/2" sheet, 49 1/2" x 37" framed.

Comparable: Arader Galleries, 2019 - $237,500; Arader Galleries, 2015 - $198,250.

James Audubon's "Snowy Owl" is one of the most desirable images from his monumental Birds of America: one of his very few nocturnal scenes, and certainly one of the most vibrant and charming full-page illustrations of his 435-plate series.

"At home in the far North, the snowy owl sits upon its hillock, surveys its bleak domain, and intones its baleful booming to the polar sky... About every fourth year flights of these big ghostly owls drift into the United States; at longer intervals invasions of thousands pour across the border. Persecuted by trophy hunters, few survive the winter and make the return trip" (Audubon's Ornithological Biography, 1831).