Karl Bodmer
Digitalis and Morning Glory
1839
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Karl Bodmer
Digitalis and Morning Glory
1839
Physical Qualities
Transparent and opaque watercolor over graphite on paper, Sheet: 283 × 202 mm. (11 1/8 × 7 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
The George A. Lucas Collection, purchased with funds from the State of Maryland, Laurence and Stella Bendann Fund, and contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations throughout the Baltimore community
Object Number
1996.48.7192
Whether depicting indigenous or non-native plant species
and trees, these works are united in their close observations
of the natural world. Take a moment to explore how each
artist depicted nature’s vitality.
Eugène-Stanislas-Alexandre Bléry’s etching, The Branches
of an Oak Tree, reflects imagery associated with the
French national landscape. Jules Ferdinand Jacquemart’s
Tropical Plants documents an interest in the plants of
different climates, indicating the ecological traces of
France’s colonial projects in Southeast Asia and the Pacific
Islands. Karl Bodmer’s detailed Digitalis and Morning
Glory captures how plant species, like people, traveled
across continents over centuries. By the time he made this
drawing, European foxglove and this Central American
species of morning glory were thriving on both sides of the
Atlantic Ocean.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 1996; The Maryland Institute College of Art,
through Henry Walters, Baltimore, by bequest 1909; from George A. Lucas, Paris
through Henry Walters, Baltimore, by bequest 1909; from George A. Lucas, Paris
Deconstructing Nature: Environmental Transformation in the Lucas Collection
Inscribed: RECTO: UL, brown ink over graphite, 'Digitalis ambigua. varieta'; graphite, 'D. paniculata'; UR, graphite, 'Ipomaea purpurea/amér mérid.'; LR, graphite, 'Bodmer fecit'; in image, brown ink, 'Bodmer'; VERSO: LR, blue ink stamp, 'M.I. LUCAS COLLECTION'
Markings: Watermark: 'J WH/ TURK/ 18' (J WHATMAN/ TURKEY MILL/ 18--)
