Meticulously studied and beautifully executed, Alice Tangerini’s calligraphic drawings are carefully constructed collages of floral and vegetal forms, whose purpose as botanical illustrations is made apparent by their scientific accuracy. Products of a complex overlay process—which involves working from pressed herbaria specimens, using a microscope to perform dissections or magnify details, making preliminary sketches on tracing paper or matte acetate, and assembling these elements into the final composition—these images convey the overall structure (“habit”) of a plant while capturing its distinct characteristics as a particular species. As Tangerini—botanical illustrator at the Smithsonian Institution for over forty years—puts it, “I am always trying to find something that the botanists missed.”
More Exhibit Items
Caroline Maschek (1857–1938), 1885, 24 x 31.5 cm, gouache on tinted Bristol paper, dated “Janner 885”
![Phalænopsis Luddemanniana [Lüddemanniana], Java, Sander et Rchb. Fil](https://www.doaks.org/resources/online-exhibits/margaret-mee-portraits-of-plants/mixed-media/phalaenopsis-luddemanniana/@@images/image/thumb)
Caroline Maschek (1857–1938), 1885, 24 x 31.5 cm, gouache on tinted Bristol paper, dated “Janner 885”
Caroline Maschek (1857–1938), 1884–91, 24 x 31.5 cm, gouache on tinted Bristol paper, dated “Juni,” added in pencil “Costa Rica”
Caroline Maschek (1857–1938), 1886, 24 x 31.5 cm, gouache on tinted Bristol paper, dated “April 886”
Caroline Maschek (1857–1938), 1884–91, 24 x 31.5 cm, gouache on tinted Bristol paper, dated “Juni”
![Thunia Alba var. Litacina [lilacina?], O. Indien, Hort.](https://www.doaks.org/resources/online-exhibits/margaret-mee-portraits-of-plants/mixed-media/thunia-alba-var-litacina-lilacina-o-indien-hort/@@images/image/thumb)
Caroline Maschek (1857–1938), 1884–91, 24 x 31.5 cm, gouache on tinted Bristol paper, dated “Juni”
Caroline Maschek (1857–1938), 1884–91, 24 x 31.5 cm, gouache on tinted Bristol paper, signed “KBM”
Caroline Maschek (1857–1938), 1884–91, 31.5 × 24 cm, with additional sheet of thin paper measuring 28.5 × 24 cm, gouache on tinted Bristol paper
Alice Tangerini (b. 1949), 1998, 14 x 17 in., drawing pen, brush, and ink on Denril Multi-media film. Loan, Alice Tangerini / Smithsonian Institution
Alice Tangerini (b. 1949), 2015, 14 3/4 x 19 in., drawing, pen, brush, and ink on Denril Multi-media film. On loan, Alice Tangerini / Smithsonian Institution
Alice Tangerini (b. 1949), 1992, 11 1/2 × 15 3/8 in., drawing, pen and ink on Cronaflex Drafting film. Loan, Alice Tangerini / Smithsonian Institution
Amy Lamb (b. 1944), 2004, 50.8 x 50.8 cm, pigment print of photograph. Loan, Amy Lamb
Amy Lamb (b. 1944), 2016, 33.8 x 76.2 cm, pigment print of photograph. Loan, Amy Lamb
Amy Lamb (b. 1944), 2004, 32.5 x 76.2 cm, pigment print of photograph. Loan, Amy Lamb
Nirupa Rao (b. 1990), 2019, 45.7 × 61 cm, watercolor. Loan, Nirupa Rao
Nirupa Rao (b. 1990), 2017, 33.3 × 40.6 cm, watercolor. Loan, Nirupa Rao
Nirupa Rao (b. 1990), 2018, 24.8 × 28.6 cm, watercolor. Loan, Nirupa Rao