Sourcing a poet's art

I was intrigued by “Art of a bird-watching poet” (Campus Notebook, Feb. 9), particularly the accompanying illustrations. I’d like to set the record straight.

While I cannot comment on John Peale Bishop ’17’s writings, I am obliged to point out that his bird paintings are direct copies not of Audubon (his “idol”), but of the next great American bird artist, Louis Agassiz Fuertes. Of the six examples shown, all can be matched exactly with Fuertes’ color plates in Birds of Massachusetts and other New England States, by Edward Howe Forbush, 1929.

To be charitable to Bishop, let’s assume these paintings were intended to be studies, in the time-honored tradition of copying the masters. That is how we all learned our craft.