'Sarah Stone's Unseen World' Highlights Avian Paintings by an 18th-Century Talent

"Decades before the advent of photography, when European scientists and explorers were undertaking global expeditions and collecting flora and fauna from around the world, art and science converged in fields of medicine, anthropology, and natural history. During the Enlightenment, artists like Elizabeth Blackwell, John Gould, and Elizabeth Gould -among many, many others-documented botanicals, avians, insects, marine species, and more, many of which were published in hefty volumes and archived in museum collections."

"Nearly two dozen of the artist's paintings are currently on view in Sarah Stone's Unseen World: A Rare Collection of 18th Century Ornithological Watercolours as part of the Master Drawings New York art fair. Surveying a wide range of incredible birds, from the Bornean peacock pheasant to the distinctive orange-and-black rufous treepie. The exhibition shares its title with a book co-authored by Errol Fuller and art deal"

European scientists and explorers collected global flora and fauna before photography, prompting artists to document specimens for medicine, anthropology, and natural history. Artists like Elizabeth Blackwell and John and Elizabeth Gould produced botanical, avian, insect, and marine illustrations that were published and archived. Sarah Stone (1759–1844), daughter of a fan painter, created rich depictions of birds and artifacts and exhibited as an Honorary Exhibitor at age 21. Sir Ashton Lever commissioned Stone in the 1770s to paint items from his Holophusikon, producing a visual chronicle of objects and fauna. Aristocratic private museums flourished during the Enlightenment, often built from empire-derived wealth and transatlantic slave trade. Nearly two dozen of Stone’s paintings appear in a Master Drawings New York presentation titled Unseen World.

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