Labels

Look below to find all of the labels I’ve written for this exhibition. 

Click on the images to be taken to their entry in the Smith College Museum of Art Collections Database.

 

Black and white image of two people gathering water in a lush forest. In The Forest Pool, massive trees tower over people collecting water. While the canopy, or top layer of trees, receives most of sunlight, the forest floor receives less than 2%. Plants like the begonias nestled under these Warm Temperate House tables have adapted to low light environments. John Buckland Wright, British. 1897-1954. The Forest Pool, 1939. Wood engraving on stiff cream wove paper Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edward H. Kent (Sara Evans, class of 1911) SC 1951.222
Begonias in the Warm Temperate House

 

Complex Egyptian painting, including a man standing on a boat woven of papyrus reeds. In the bottom right corner of this scene, the Egyptian god Osiris floats in a papyrus boat. Papyrus was also used by first century Egyptians to create sails, cloth, and paper. To create paper, thin strips of stem were layered and pressed together, then dried in the sun. The paper we use today is similarly made from wood pulp. Unknown. Egyptian, 100 BCE-50 CE. Fragment of a Cartonnage Mummy Cover: Goddesses Towing Funerary Boat with Figures of Osiris and Mourning Isis and Nephthys Tempera on cartonnage Gift of Emily M. Williams SC 1918.6.1
Papyrus “cyperus papyrus” in the Stove House

 

What patterns of light and shadow do you see in the Palm House? A retired art teacher, Alma Thomas painted Morning in the Bowl of Night when she was 82 years old. The sunlight filtering through the flowers and trees of her garden inspired many of the patterns in her colorful, abstract paintings. Alma Thomas. American, 1891-1978. Morning in the Bowl of Night. 1973. Acrylic on canvas. Purchased with the Hillyer-Tryon-Mather Fund; the Madeleine H. Russell, class of 1937, Fund; the Kathleen Compton Sherrerd, class of 1954, Acquisition Fund for American Art; and the Dorothy C. Miller, class of 1925, Fund. SC 2018.23
Various plants in the Palm House

 

Cream-colored vase with fiddlehead design. When fern buds open, their leaves form tight coils called ”fiddleheads” until they have fully expanded. Architecture and art mimic their spirals to create works like this ceramic vase. Tiffany’s combination of organic forms and bright colors places him in the early 1900s Art Nouveau movement, which looked to nature as an aesthetic guide. Louis Comfort Tiffany. American, 1848-1943. Favrile Pottery Vase with Fiddlehead Fern Design. 1912-1940. Ceramic with cream and brown/green glaze. Gift of Sarah Laubshire de Brabander, class of 1969, in memory of her mother, Helen Goodwin Laubshire, class of 1928. SC 2009.17
Fluffy Ruffle fern “Nephrolepis exaltata ‘Elegantissima'” in the Fern House

 

In Reina, Guatemala, an agave plant perched on a woman’s head forms a crown. Garduño seeks to “bridge the present moment and the centuries that have passed” by depicting witnesses of the passage of time: plants like agave and the indigenous people who coexist with them. How do you experience time differently than plants? Flor Garduño. Mexican, 1957–. Reina, Guatemala (Queen, Guatemala). 1989 (printed 1993). Gelatin silver print Gift of Joe Baio and Anne Griffin, class of 1983. SC 2020.32.29
Dragon tree agave “Agave attenuata” in the Show House

 

A carved figure with green cactus pads and red cactus fruits on its head. This kachina is crowned with prickly pear cactuses, or yung’a. Cactuses’ thick, waxy stems store water in desert environments, making them a juicy food source for the Hopi. Kachina dolls help the Hopi people to teach their children about the different kachinas, or spirits, that are central to Hopi beliefs and relationships with the environment. Tino Youvella, a Hopi artist from First Mesa, Arizona, carved this kachina to sell commercially. Celestino “Tino” Youvella, Native American; Hopi, Tewa, and Laguna Pueblo. 1941--. Prickly Pear Cactus (Yung'a) Kachina, 1962-1970s. Sculpture Gift of Katherine Gabel, class of 1959 SC 1981.25.12
Elephant ear prickly pear “Opuntia tuna” in the Succulent House

 

Two plates with the remains of a meal. They sit on a rose-printed tablecloth. Olive pits dot the plates in Huma Mulji’s Table for Two. Olives play an important role in many Mediterranean and Asian cuisines. Their global impact is reflected in this photograph, where a home-cooked Pakistani meal sits on plates and tablecloths that are internationally manufactured. Who do you think shared this meal? Huma Mulji, Pakistani, 1970– Table for Two. 2007. Inkjet print on Hahnemuhle Photorag paper Gift of Friedman Benda LLC. SC 2013.76.6
Common olive “Olea europaea” in the Show House

 

Black and white photo of a man's hands. Notice all the different leaf shapes around you. Leaves like those on this African hemp plant, have veins that spread from a single base point to the outer edges of the leaf. They are called palmate leaves because they look like the palm of your hand. How else are our bodies similar to plants? Paul Cordes. American, 1893--1979. The Musician. 1937. Gelatin silver print mounted on paperboard. Gift of Paul Cordes. SC 1938.8.5
African hemp “Sparmannica africana” in the Cool Temperate House

 

Two women harvest tea leaves in this Japanese woodblock print. The fading colors of the fields and sky are a technique called bokashi, adding to the print’s depth and immersion. Young spring tea leaves, like those on this Cool Temperate House specimen, produce especially high quality teas. Hiroshige. Japanese, 1797-1858. Kusatsu, Tea Pickers, No. 53 from Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Jinbutsu Ed.). nd. woodcut printed in color on paper The Margaret Rankin Barker - Isaac Ogden Rankin Collection. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James Barker (Margaret Clark Rankin, class of 1908). SC 1968.260
Tea plant “Camellia sinensis” in the Cool Temperate House