Mary Vaux Walcott, Untitled (Autumn Leaves), 1874, watercolor on paper, sheet: 10 x 6 7/8 in. (25.4 x 17.5 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C., 1970, 355.780
Title: Untitled (Autumn Leaves)
Artist: Mary Vaux Walcott (1860-1940)
When was the last time you picked up a branch of autumn leaves from the sidewalk or ground, similar to the watercolor above? Drawn to the warm colors such as the deep reds, a touch of yellow at the base or edges? Oe perhaps to the green centers, a reminder of the summer? Even the largest leaf, though already brown, intrigues us with its jagged patterns, like a miniature tree, fallen to the earth.
The artist Mary Vaux Walcott was only 14 when she created this work, at the beginning of a lifetime dedicated to recording wildflowers and plants; almost 800 examples can be found today in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. Although Walcott resided mainly in Philadelphia and later Washington, D.C., she did regularly visit the Canadian Rockies, enthralled by the grandeur and beauty of the mountains.
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