Elgin Botanical Gardens c. 1936

Tabea Hosier made this small watercolor painting of the Elgin Botanical Gardens, which existed in New York in 1801. You can see the precise little brushstrokes and the translucent washes of paint. I wonder if it was painted on site. I can feel Hosier’s care, the time spent observing leaves and flowers. The circles and grids feel very Modern, while the details of plants are almost botanical. I see a love of plants, of life, in the way each leaf is rendered as individual and distinct. In this way the painting feels both planned and organic, ordered yet full of surprises. You might think of Hosier in conversation with other artists who were drawn to plants, such as Georgia O’Keefe, or the amateur artist, Emma Darwin, whose botanical studies reveal a similar fascination with the natural world. Artists are always inspiring one another in their pursuit of seeing and understanding the world around us.