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Louis Agassiz Fuertes (February 7, 1874
Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...
– August 22, 1927
Unadilla, New York Unadilla is a town in Otsego County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 4,392. The name is derived from an Iroquois word for "meeting place". Unadilla is located in the southwestern corner of the county, ...
) was an American
ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
, illustrator and artist who set the rigorous and current-day standards for ornithological art and naturalist depiction and is considered one of the most prolific American bird artists, second only to his guiding professional predecessor
John James Audubon John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin; April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was an American self-trained artist, naturalist, and ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornithology turned into a plan to make a complete pictoria ...
.


Biography


Early life

Fuertes was born in Ithaca, New York, and was the son of Puerto Rican astronomer and civil engineer Estevan Fuertes and Mary Stone Perry Fuertes. His father was the founding professor of the School of Civil Engineering at
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, and for many years served as the dean of the college. Estevan named his son after the Swiss-born American naturalist Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz, who had died the year before. Fuertes's mother, born in
Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...
, was of Dutch ancestry. Young Louis became interested in birds at a very early age, securing birds with a slingshot and examining them carefully. As a child, he had been influenced by John James Audubon's ''
The Birds of America ''The Birds of America'' is a book by naturalist and painter John James Audubon, containing illustrations of a wide variety of birds of the United States. It was first published as a series in sections between 1827 and 1838, in Edinburgh and ...
''. At the age of fourteen, he made his first painting of a bird, a male
red crossbill The red crossbill or common crossbill (''Loxia curvirostra'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. Crossbills have distinctive mandibles, crossed at the tips, which enable them to extract seeds from conifer cones and other ...
, from life. He learned to keep careful records of the appearance, habits and voices of birds. In 1890, he sent a specimen that he collected to the Smithsonian and received stellar praise and glowing comments on its rarity and accuracy and in 1891, at the young age of 17, Louis became the youngest member ever named when he was inducted as Associate Member of the
American Ornithologists' Union The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...
. He was encouraged by his father's colleagues at Cornell including Burt G. Wilder and Liberty H. Bailey. In June 1892, he accompanied his parents to Europe and sketched birds and animals at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. In September, he joined the Institute of Keller, a school in Zurich, staying on for a year.


Cornell University

Returning to America, he enrolled in Cornell in 1893, choosing to study
architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
. His older brother
James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...
, however shared in a memoir that Louis lacked a passion for geometry and mathematics and would often fall asleep when James tried to coach him. During one college lecture, Louis climbed out a classroom window and sat completely still in a tree to investigate a strange bird call he had never heard before. His interest in singing led him to join the
Cornell University Glee Club The Cornell University Glee Club (CUGC) is the oldest student organization at Cornell University, having been organized shortly after the first students arrived on campus in 1868. The CUGC is a thirty-nine member chorus for tenor and bass voices, ...
. In 1894, the Glee Club went on a tour to
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, where another member of the club suggested that Louis meet his uncle
Elliott Coues Elliott Ladd Coues (; September 9, 1842 – December 25, 1899) was an American army surgeon, historian, ornithologist, and author. He led surveys of the Arizona Territory, and later as secretary of the United States Geological and Geographic ...
, who was also keenly interested in birds. This meeting was a turning point, as Coues recognized Fuertes' talent and spread the word about his already distinguished work. In 1895 Coues exhibited fifty of the works of Fuertes at the Congress of the
American Ornithologists' Union The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...
at Washington, a meeting that Louis was unable to attend. He received the first of his many commissions for illustrating birds while still an undergraduate. At Cornell, he was elected to the
Sphinx Head Society The Sphinx Head Society is the oldest senior honor society at Cornell University. Sphinx Head recognizes Cornell senior men and women who have demonstrated respectable strength of character on top of a dedication to leadership and service at Corn ...
, the oldest senior honor society at the University. He was also a member of
Alpha Delta Phi Alpha Delta Phi (), commonly known as Alpha Delt, ADPhi, A-Delt, or ADP, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. Alpha Delta Phi was originally founded as a literary society by Samuel Eells in 1832 at Hamilton College in Cli ...
which he joined having been lifelong friends with famed horticulturalist and naturalist
Theodore Luqueer Mead Theodore Luqueer Mead (February 23, 1852 – May 4, 1936) was an American naturalist, entomologist and horticulturist. As an entomologist he discovered more than 20 new species of North American butterflies and introduced the Florissant Fossil Be ...
, one of his father's former students and member of the fraternity. In 1896, Coues invited Fuertes to attend the Ornithological Congress at
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
in England.


Career and personal life

After graduating from Cornell in 1897 he became an apprentice to the painter Abbott H. Thayer. In 1898, he made his first expedition, with Thayer and his son Gerald, to Florida. In 1899, Fuertes accompanied
E. H. Harriman Edward Henry Harriman (February 20, 1848 – September 9, 1909) was an American financier and railroad executive. Early life Harriman was born on February 20, 1848, in Hempstead, New York, the son of Orlando Harriman Sr., an Episcopal clergyman ...
on his famous exploration of the
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
coastline, the Harriman Alaska Expedition. Fuertes later traveled across much of the United States and to many countries in pursuit of birds, including the Bahamas, Jamaica, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, and Ethiopia. Fuertes collaborated with Frank Chapman, curator of the
American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
, on many assignments including field research, background dioramas at the museum, and book illustrations. While on a collecting expedition with Chapman in Mexico, Fuertes discovered a species of oriole. Chapman named it ''Icterus fuertesi'', commonly called Fuertes's oriole after his friend. In 1904 Fuertes married Margaret F. Sumner and they had a son, Louis Sumner, and a daughter, Mary. Fuertes regularly lectured on ornithology at
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
beginning in 1923. Fuertes was an able imitator of bird song and even made a trial recording for a
Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
record in 1913. In 1926–27 he participated in the Field Museum's Abyssinian Expedition led by
Wilfred Hudson Osgood Wilfred Hudson Osgood (December 8, 1875 – June 20, 1947) was an American zoologist. Biography Osgood was born in Rochester, New Hampshire, the oldest child of a family of watchmakers. The family moved to California in 1888 and he went to study ...
. He produced some of his most exquisite bird and mammal watercolors as a result of this trip.


Death

Upon his return from Ethiopia, Fuertes visited Frank Chapman at Tannersville, New York. Returning from the meeting, his car was hit by a train at a railroad crossing near
Unadilla, New York Unadilla is a town in Otsego County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 4,392. The name is derived from an Iroquois word for "meeting place". Unadilla is located in the southwestern corner of the county, ...
, and he was killed. A load of hay had concealed the oncoming train. His wife was seriously injured but survived. By a twist of fate, the paintings he carried all survived undamaged. This extraordinary and rare collection was later purchased from Mrs. Fuertes by C. Suydam Cutting. Fuertes is buried at
Lake View Cemetery Lake View Cemetery is a privately owned, nonprofit garden cemetery located in the cities of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, and East Cleveland in the U.S. state of Ohio. Founded in 1869, the cemetery was favored by wealthy families during the Gil ...
in Ithaca, New York.


Memorials and legacy

Fuertes is commemorated by two species. One is a species named by his colleague Frank Chapman as ''Icterus fuertesi'', although it is now considered a subspecies of the
orchard oriole The orchard oriole (''Icterus spurius'') is the smallest species of icterid. The subspecies of the Caribbean coast of Mexico, ''I. s. fuertesi'', is sometimes considered a separate species, the ochre oriole or Fuertes's oriole. Description Mea ...
. The other, Fuertes's parrot, or ''Hapalopsittaca fuertesi'', was rediscovered in 2002 after 91 years of presumed extinction. In 1927, the
Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...
made Fuertes an ''Honorary Scout'', a new category of Scout created that same year. This distinction was given to "American citizens whose achievements in outdoor activity, exploration and worthwhile adventure are of such an exceptional character as to capture the imagination of boys...". The other eighteen who were awarded this distinction were:
Roy Chapman Andrews Roy Chapman Andrews (January 26, 1884 – March 11, 1960) was an American explorer, adventurer and naturalist who became the director of the American Museum of Natural History. He led a series of expeditions through the politically disturbed C ...
; Robert Bartlett;
Frederick Russell Burnham Frederick Russell Burnham DSO (May 11, 1861 – September 1, 1947) was an American scout and world-traveling adventurer. He is known for his service to the British South Africa Company and to the British Army in colonial Africa, and for teach ...
;
Richard E. Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer and explorer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, p ...
;
George Kruck Cherrie George Kruck Cherrie (August 22, 1865 – January 20, 1948) was an American natural history, naturalist and explorer. He collected numerous specimens on nearly forty expeditions that he joined for museums and several species have been named after ...
; James L. Clark;
Merian C. Cooper Merian Caldwell Cooper (October 24, 1893 – April 21, 1973) was an American filmmaker and Academy Award winner, as well as a former aviator who served as an officer in the United States Air Force and Polish Air Force. In film, he is credited a ...
;
Lincoln Ellsworth Lincoln Ellsworth (May 12, 1880 – May 26, 1951) was a polar explorer from the United States and a major benefactor of the American Museum of Natural History. Biography Lincoln Ellsworth was born on May 12, 1880, to James Ellsworth and Eva F ...
;
George Bird Grinnell George Bird Grinnell (September 20, 1849 – April 11, 1938) was an American anthropologist, historian, naturalist, and writer. Grinnell was born in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in 1870 and a Ph.D. in 1880 ...
;
Charles A. Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
;
Donald Baxter MacMillan Donald Baxter MacMillan (November 10, 1874 – September 7, 1970) was an American explorer, sailor, researcher and lecturer who made over 30 expeditions to the Arctic during his 46-year career. He pioneered the use of radios, airplanes, a ...
; Clifford H. Pope;
George Palmer Putnam George Palmer Putnam (February 7, 1814 – December 20, 1872) was an American publisher and author. He founded the firm G. P. Putnam's Sons and '' Putnam's Magazine''. He was an advocate of international copyright reform, secretary for many yea ...
;
Kermit Roosevelt Kermit Roosevelt MC (October 10, 1889 – June 4, 1943) was an American businessman, soldier, explorer, and writer. A son of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, Kermit graduated from Harvard College, served in both Wo ...
; Carl Rungius;
Stewart Edward White Stewart Edward White (12 March 1873 – September 18, 1946) was an American writer, novelist, and spiritualist. He was a brother of noted mural painter Gilbert White. Personal life White was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of Mary E. ( ...
; Orville Wright. Apart from mentoring
George Miksch Sutton George Miksch Sutton (May 16, 1898, Bethany, Nebraska – December 7, 1982) was an American ornithologist and bird artist. He published numerous technical papers in ornithology as well as more popular works illustrated with his own art. His early ...
, Fuertes influenced many later wildlife artists including
Roger Tory Peterson Roger Tory Peterson (August 28, 1908 – July 28, 1996) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, illustrator and educator, and one of the founding inspirations for the 20th-century environmental movement. Background Peterson was born in Jam ...
,
Jörg Kühn Jörg Kühn (1940–1964) was a Swiss artist, naturalist and scientific illustrator who specialized in bird paintings and drawings. He was also a children's book illustrator. He is noted for illustrations that are of a particularly scientific and ...
and Conrad Roland. The Wilson Ornithological Society established the Louis Agassiz Fuertes Award in 1947. Fuertes also painted dozens of mammal portraits for '' The National Geographic Magazine'' in 1916 and 1918, and inspired the Society to hire an artist of their own,
Walter A. Weber Walter Alois Weber (May 23, 1906 - January 10, 1979) was an American Mammalogy, mammalogist, animal artist, and illustrator for ''National Geographic (magazine), National Geographic''. He was noted for his colorful and realistic-looking sketches a ...
. Many of Fuertes' paintings still remain popular and in very high demand today. In particular, a 1924 oil painting, ''Wild Turkey'', sold for $86,250 at a January 2012 auction in New York and his other works command even higher prices to private collectors around the world. Fuertes' love of animals and landscapes comes through in his paintings; there is a notable vivacity and excitement present in his work that has created long-term value.


Selected works

Fuertes' earliest commissions included 25 large decorative panels for F. F. Brewster of
New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
. This was followed by some murals at the Flamingo Hotel, of Miami, Florida and some paintings for the New York Zoological Society. He was much sought after later, illustrating books, plates for journals and magazine. Working with impressions from the field and from freshly collected specimens, Fuertes' works are considered some of the most accurate and natural depictions of birds. He had an ability to capture the bird in action and reproduce illustrations from a mental image. Apart from illustrations, he wrote some full length articles including one on falconry in the National Geographic and another on dogs. The cover of the journal ''Auk'' published by the American Ornithologists' Union was designed by Fuertes. Some of the books that he illustrated include: * ''A-Birding on a Bronco'', by Florence A. Merriam, 1896
scanned
* ''Citizen Bird'' by Mabel Osgood Wright and
Elliott Coues Elliott Ladd Coues (; September 9, 1842 – December 25, 1899) was an American army surgeon, historian, ornithologist, and author. He led surveys of the Arizona Territory, and later as secretary of the United States Geological and Geographic ...
. Macmillan Company, 1896
1923 reprint
* ''Song Birds and Water Fowl'', by H E Parkhurst, 1897
scanned
* ''Bird Craft'', by M. Osgood Wright, 1897
1900 reprint
* ''The Woodpeckers'', by F H Eckstorm, 1901
scanned
* ''Second Book of Birds'', by Olive Thorne Miller (pseudonym of Mrs.
Harriet Mann Miller Harriet Mann Miller (pen names Olive Thorne and Olive Thorne Miller; 25 June 1831 – 25 December 1918) was an American author, naturalist, and ornithologist. She was one of the first three women raised to elective membership in the American Orni ...
), 1901
scanned
* ''Birds of the Rockies'', by
Leander S. Keyser Leander is one of the protagonists in the story of Hero and Leander in Greek mythology. Leander may also refer to: People * Leander (given name) * Leander (surname) Places * Leander, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Leand ...
1902
scanned
* ''Handbook of Birds of Western North America'', by Frank Chapman, 1902
1904 reprint
* ''Upland Game Birds'', by
Edwyn Sandys Edwyn is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Edwyn Alexander-Sinclair, GCB, MVO (1865–1945), British Royal Navy officer *Edwyn ap Gwriad, Welsh king of Gwent from 1015 to 1045 * Edwyn Bevan OBE (1870–1943), versatile English ph ...
and T S van Dyke, 1902
scanned
* ''Key to North American Birds'' by
Elliott Coues Elliott Ladd Coues (; September 9, 1842 – December 25, 1899) was an American army surgeon, historian, ornithologist, and author. He led surveys of the Arizona Territory, and later as secretary of the United States Geological and Geographic ...
, 1903
scanned
* ''Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America'', by Frank M. Chapman, 1904
scanned
* ''Birds of New York'' by
Elon Howard Eaton Elon Howard Eaton (sometimes Elon Eton; 8 October 1866 – 27 March 1934) was an American ornithologist, scholar, and author. He was born in the Town of Collins near Springville, New York, the son of Luzerne Eaton and Sophie Newton. As a youth, ...
, 1910
scanned
* ''Wild Animals of North America'' by Edward W. Nelson, 1918
scanned
* ''The Burgess Bird Book for Children'', by
Thornton W. Burgess Thornton Waldo Burgess (January 17, 1874 – June 5, 1965) was an American conservationist and author of children's stories. He was sometimes known as the Bedtime Story-Man, after his newspaper column ''Bedtime Stories''. By the time he retir ...
, 1919 The Burgess Bird Book For Children * ''Birds of Massachusetts and Other New England States'' by
Edward Howe Forbush Edward Howe Forbush (April 24, 1858 – March 7, 1929) was a noted Massachusetts ornithologist and a prolific writer, best known for his book ''Birds of New England''. Biography Born in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1858, he was a precocious na ...
, 1925
1927 edition
* ''Artist and Naturalist in Ethiopia'' by
Wilfred Hudson Osgood Wilfred Hudson Osgood (December 8, 1875 – June 20, 1947) was an American zoologist. Biography Osgood was born in Rochester, New Hampshire, the oldest child of a family of watchmakers. The family moved to California in 1888 and he went to study ...
. Garden City: Doubleday, Doran and Co., 1936 * ''The Bird Life of Texas'' by
Harry Church Oberholser Harry Church Oberholser (June 25, 1870 – December 25, 1963) was an American ornithologist. Biography Harry Oberholser was born to Jacob and Lavera S. Oberholser on June 25, 1870, in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Columbia University, but did n ...
. University of Texas Press, 1974


Gallery

File:Cardinalis cardinalis (small illustration).jpg, Cardinal, from ''Citizen Bird'' (1897) File:Tyrannus tyrannusABP06CA.jpg, Eastern kingbird, from ''The Second Book of Birds'' (1901) File:Sphyrapicus thyroideusECP01CB.jpg, Williamson's sapsucker, from ''Birds of the Rockies'' (1902) File:Gelada baboon Fuertes.jpg, alt=Gelada baboon, Gelada baboon from ''Album of Abyssinian Birds and Mammals'' (1930) File:Parus rufescensDU1N028CA.JPG, Chestnut-backed chickadee, from ''Harriman Alaska Series'' (1904) File:Stercorarius pomarinusDUCA.jpg, Pomarine jaeger, from ''Harriman Alaska Series'' (1904) File:Dendroica dominicaEMP13CB.jpg, Yellow-throated warbler, from ''Warblers of North America'' (1907) File:Bubo virginianusDO1908P01CA.JPG, Great horned owl, from ''United States Department of Agriculture Yearbook'' (1908) File:Accipiter gentilisAAP045CA.jpg, Goshawk, from ''Birds of New York'' (1910–1914) File:Nightjar in flight - AAP065A.jpg, Nightjars, from ''Birds of New York'' (1910–1914) File:Dryocopus pileatusAAP063CA.jpg, Pileated woodpecker, from ''Birds of New York'' (1910–1914) File:Magnolia Warbler NGM-v31-p313-A.jpg, Magnolia warbler, from ''The Warblers of North America'' (''National Geographic'', 1917) File:Plegadis chihiGBP08CA.jpg, White-faced ibis, from ''Game Birds of California'' (1918) File:Ceratogymna brevisEYP24A.jpg, Silvery-cheeked hornbill, from ''Album of Abyssinian Birds and Mammals'' (1930) File:Eupodotis melanogasterEYP18A.jpg, Black-bellied bustard, from ''Album of Abyssinian Birds and Mammals'' (1930) File:Haliaeetus vociferEYP14A.jpg, African fish eagle, from ''Album of Abyssinian Birds and Mammals'' (1930) File:Fuertes Flamingo Mural.JPG,
Flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of Wader, wading bird in the Family (biology), family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas ...
mural at the
American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
File:Secretary bird Fuertes.jpg, alt=Secretary bird, Secretary bird, from ''Album of Abyssinian Birds and Mammals'' (1930)


References


Other sources

* Boynton, Mary Fuertes (Ed.) 1956. Louis Agassiz Fuertes: his life briefly told and his correspondence. Oxford University Press. * Norelli, Martina R. ''American Wildlife Painting'' (Fuertes, Audubon, Heade, Wilson, Thayer, Catesby) Watson-Guptill Publications, 1975.


External links


Cornell University online collectionimage database

Scans of some bird paintings, Cornell collection

Abyssinian Birds and Mammals: Painted from life by Louis Agassiz Fuertes (1930) scanned version
* * * *
Works by Louis Agassiz Fuertes
at
Biodiversity Heritage Library The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. BHL operates as worldwide consortiumof natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries working toge ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuertes, Louis Agassiz 1874 births 1927 deaths American bird artists American male painters American naturalists American ornithologists American people of Puerto Rican descent 20th-century American painters Cornell University alumni Cornell University faculty Hispanic and Latino American teachers Railway accident deaths in the United States Accidental deaths in New York (state) 20th-century American male artists