Spring Beauty (Claytonia lanceolata) (1916)

Dated 1916, "Spring Beauty (Claytonia lanceolata)" is an artwork by Mary Vaux Walcott. Plants & Animals, a short history: Images of plants and animals run from medieval herbals and bestiaries to the scientific illustration of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. Images of plants and animals are valued both for the care of their observation and for their decorative appeal. Context for 1916: Posters, magazines, and illustrated books were major ways for the public to meet new art and design. Dada and Surrealism followed the First World War, the Bauhaus school was founded in 1919, and Art Deco became the fashionable decorative style of the 1920s and 1930s. The catalogue places it in Plants & Animals. The format is portrait.

On onlly.art "Spring Beauty (Claytonia lanceolata)" is sold as a digital download (Digital JPEG + PDF files, 300 DPI). The files are delivered by email after payment, so nothing is shipped: you print locally, choosing the paper, size, and frame yourself. A portrait format suits narrow wall spaces, hallways, and the area beside a door or window. Flora and fauna subjects make an interior feel softer and more alive, adding a natural rhythm that works well in both traditional and contemporary spaces. Before printing, compare the proportions of the file with your frame so that nothing important is cropped. Hang the print away from direct sunlight, which over the years can fade any printed colour. Choosing a standard frame size and printing to fit it often saves the cost of custom framing. Screens and printers render colour differently, so a small test print is a sensible way to check tones before committing to a large size.

American, 1860–1940

If you like the visual language of Mary Vaux Walcott, explore more works by the same artist in our collection.