Great Blue Heron - Henderson, KY
N 37° 50.333 W 087° 35.481
16S E 447967 N 4188103
Great Blue Heron sculpture in downtown Henderson, KY
Waymark Code: WMDZHE
Location: Kentucky, United States
Date Posted: 03/13/2012
Views: 6
"Great Blue Heron" is a sculpture based off of a painting by the great John Audubon. The sculpture was made in 2002 by Raymond Graf.
John James Audubon was a painter and businessman that moved to Henderson, KY in 1810. While there, he continued his study and paintings of birds. He was one of the first painters that put true motion into his paintings of wildlife. To do this, he had to use his hunting skills and he would kill the wildlife that he would later paint. He would position the dead birds in such a way to match the movement that he witness with the birds.
That movement is evident this sculpture with is a copy of Audubon's painting called "Great Blue Heron" which was plate #211 in "Birds of America", the famous book of watercolor paintings of Audubon.
This is one of 9 sculptures in the town that commemorates the works of Audubon.