Oiseaux : explorer le monde ailé

This study is devoted to the beauty of birds in visual culture, art and history. It traces their scientific and popular appeal throughout the world and across the ages, highlighting the remarkable diversity of species in the avian kingdom, from tiny hummingbirds to ostriches larger than humans, penguins and tropical macaws.

Produced in collaboration with an international panel of ornithologists, art historians, wildlife photographers, environmentalists and curators, the book includes illustrations and works of art in a variety of styles, created by artists from diverse and often surprising backgrounds, including John James Audubon, Robert Clark, Mark Dion, Charley Harper, Barbara Kruger, Edward Lear, Ustad Mansur, John Ruskin, Joel Sartore, Sarah Stone and Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe. Organised in pairs to highlight similarities and contrasts, it reveals how artists, illustrators, ornithologists and photographers, from ancient Egypt to the present day, have captured the spirit, likeness, character and symbolism of birds.