Unlike the drawings and paintings of his contemporaries, which were produced from prepared skins and zoo specimens, Audubon's paintings are taken directly from his observations in the wild, and the richness and directness come straight from the real world. No wonder that Audubon became known in his lifetime as "The American Woodsman". These paintings were produced between 1828 and 1837; between 175 and 200 sets of these paintings were produced, and the last complete set to come to auction sold for nearly $3 million. The prints of this edition are almost exactly one-half size of the original life-size paintings.