Black-backed Gull — Audubon, Birds of America Plate 241

Head thrown back, beak wide open. A great black-backed gull lies on the grassy ground, one dark wing raised high above it, the other spread beneath. Its head is twisted upwards and its yellow beak, with the red spot at the tip, gapes in a last cry. Audubon painted the bird just after it had been shot, and he added a study of its webbed foot in the upper corner.

Audubon knew the bird well from the North Atlantic coasts: on his 1833 expedition to Labrador he watched this “tyrant” of the shores, as he called it, sail high above the cliffs. On the watercolour he left a note for his engraver: finish the ground rather better.

Why it works on your wall

• Graphic and dramatic: a great black wing on cream paper, almost an abstract shape, striking in a modern interior
• For lovers of the sea: a powerful image for a seaside house, a hallway or an office with a nautical feel
• Framing tip: a white or natural wood frame keeps the contrast sharp; choose a large size to give it room

The plate

Plate 241 was engraved by Robert Havell in London in 1835, with the caption “Black Backed Gull, Larus marinus”. The great black-backed gull is the largest gull in the world, a bird of the North Atlantic coasts.

• Artist: John James Audubon (1785–1851), engraved by Robert Havell Jr.
• Work: The Birds of America, plate 241 (CCXLI)
• Date: painted around 1832, engraved in 1835
• Technique: etching and aquatint, coloured by hand
• Bird: great black-backed gull, Larus marinus

John James Audubon (1785–1851) set out to paint every bird of North America at life size. Between 1827 and 1838, his watercolours became the 435 plates of The Birds of America, etched and aquatinted in London, most of them by Robert Havell Jr., printed on “double elephant” sheets of about 100 × 66 cm and coloured by hand, one by one. Read the story of the book.

Your print

• Restored from a high-definition scan of the original hand-coloured plate, keeping the warm tone of the old paper
• Printed in Europe on thick archival matte paper, FSC certified
• From A4 to A0, plus 40×60, 50×70, 60×90 and 70×100 cm and 12×18 to 27×40 inch sizes, all made for standard frames
• Free shipping, no minimum order. Shipped rolled in a sturdy tube

Pair it with the Double-crested Cormorant, another bird of the Labrador coast, or the Osprey, or explore all our John James Audubon prints.