Cucumbertree (Magnolia acuminata)
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist
Accession Number
1970.355.569
Tags
Art Historical Context
Mary Vaux Walcott's *Cucumbertree (Magnolia acuminata)*, painted in 1922, captures the delicate beauty of this native North American tree, known for its cucumber-shaped cones and vibrant yellow-green flowers. As part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection—gifted directly by the artist—this painting exemplifies Walcott's lifelong passion for botanical illustration. A talented Quaker artist, naturalist, and mountaineer (1860–1940), she created hundreds of precise watercolor paintings during summer expeditions in the Canadian Rockies and American wilderness, blending scientific accur...