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Alice Tangerini

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alice R. Tangerini (born on April 25, 1949) is an American


botanical illustrator, best known for her work at the National Alice Tangerini
Museum of Natural History. In 1972, Tangerini was hired as Born April 25, 1949
a staff illustrator for the Department of Botany at the Takoma Park, Maryland, United States
National Museum of Natural History by American botanist
Lyman Bradford Smith. Prior to working at the Smithsonian Nationality American
Institution, she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Education Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University. As of March 9, 2017, (Bachelor of Fine Arts)
Tangerini remains the only botanical illustrator ever hired by
Occupation Botanical illustrator
the Smithsonian.
Years active 1972present
Aside from illustration, Tangerini also teaches classes on the
subject and serves as a manager and curator for the Department of Botany at the National Museum of Natural
History. In 2005, she lost sight in her right eye following an unidentified injury, and has diplopia due to a
subsequent surgery. She has received the "Distinguished Service Award" from Guild of Natural Science
Illustrators and the "Excellence in Scientific Botanical Art" award from the American Society of Botanical
Artists. She has also been credited as one of the leading figures in her field by American botanist Warren H.
Wagner and the Smithsonian Associates.

Contents
1 Early life and education
2 Career
2.1 Injury
3 Awards and recognition
4 References
5 External links

Early life and education


Alice R. Tangerini was born on April 25, 1949 in Takoma Park[1], Maryland and raised in Kensington.[2]
Drawing has been her "life's passion" since the age of four. As a high school student, she met botanist Lyman
Bradford Smith through a friend of the family. He went on to become an essential mentor, with each of their
lessons adding up to six hours or more, where Smith often had Tangerini illustrate plants using a dead model.[2]
While attending the Virginia Commonwealth University, Tangerini spent her summers working at the
Smithsonian Institution. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1972.[3] Following her graduation,
Tangerini was hired by Smith to work as a staff illustrator for the Department of Botany at the National
Museum of Natural History.[3][4][5] She thus became the first botanical illustrator hired by the Smithsonian
Institution.[2]

Career
Tangerini primarily does her illustrations in the United States National Herbarium,[2][3] and worked under
American botanist Warren H. Wagner.[4] Even though she frequently relies on pressed and dried herbarium
specimens as her models, she does go on location to areas such as California, Hawaii, and Guyana to see the
flora in their natural environment.[3] She differentiated botanical art from fine
art by clarifying that "botanical art had to be recognized at least to genus, if not
to species".[6]

According to the American Society of Botanical Artists, Tangerini has


illustrated over 1000 plant species. The majority of her illustrations have been
created using pen and ink or brush with ink, but at times also graphite and
digital painting.[3] She typically draws her specimen in black and white, with
minimal shadow, and frequently places the light sources in the image's upper
left corner. When completing an illustration, Tangerini follows tradition in
botanical illustration by focusing on plant morphology and internal parts of the
flower rather than the color.[2]

Larsenianthus wardianus as Tangerini's illustrations have been featured in numerous scientific publications,
illustrated by Tangerini such as The Flora of the Guianas, as well as a number of books.[1][3][4] In 1980,
she created a "one-man show of palm drawings" in the National Museum of
Natural History and she curated the "North American Wild Flowers:
Watercolors by Mary Vaux Walcott" exhibit in 1990. This collection was also held in the National Museum of
Natural History.[1] In 2013, she published the article Whatever happened to Bishopanthus, along with co-
writers Vicki Funk and Harold E. Robinson, in the botanical journal PhytoKeys.[7]

Aside from her work in illustration, Tangerini has also given lectures and taught classes on the subject at
several locations, including the Smithsonian Associates, United States Department of Agriculture, Montgomery
College, Virginia Commonwealth University, the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, and the Minnesota
School of Botanical Art.[3] She is a manager and curator for botanical art in the National Museum of Natural
History's botany department,[8] and runs the Smithsonian Catalog of Botanical Illustrations.[6] She also serves
as a board member on the American Society of Botanical Artists.[9]

Injury

In 2005, Tangerini lost sight in her right eye following an unidentified injury. She was not given a clear
diagnosis on the issue. Tangerini attributed the injury to too many years of working. After receiving surgery in
the same year, she was identified as having diplopia in her right eye. Wagner suggested that Tangerini wear an
eyepatch so that she could continue her work at the museum, and offered her "[his] son's pirate patch" as
support. Tangerini returned to work and, in addition to wearing an eyepatch, started to use a graphics tablet and
Adobe Photoshop and relied more on digital technology to give her a clearer view of an image.[4]

Awards and recognition


In 1999, Tangerini received the "Distinguished Service Award" from Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. In
2008, she was honored with the "Excellence in Scientific Botanical Art" award from the American Society of
Botanical Artists.[3]

On August 24, 2016, the Smithsonian Institution Archives selected Tangerini for its Wonderful Women
Wednesday, describing her as a "Groundbreaker".[10] Order Sons of Italy in America called her "one of the
world's best botanical illustrator".[11] Warren H. Wagner described her as the best artist in her field,[4] and the
Smithsonian Associates called her a "leading contemporary practitioners" in botanical illustration.[9]

As of March 9, 2017, Tangerini remains the only botanical illustrator ever hired by the Smithsonian.[2]

References
1. "Artists Represented in the Smithsonian Catalog of Botanical Illustrations" (https://web.archive.org/web/201707141359
29/http://botany.si.edu/botart/tangerini.htm). National Museum of Natural History. Archived from the original (http://bot
any.si.edu/botart/tangerini.htm)on July 14, 2017.
2. Corson, Cheryl (March 9, 2017)."Botanical Illustrator Alice Tangerini" (http://www.capitalcommunitynews.com/conten
t/botanical-illustrator-alice-tangerini). Hill Rag. Capital Community News Inc.
3. "Alice Tangerini" (https://www.asba-art.org/member-gallery/alice-tangerini). American Society of Botanical Artists.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20160413023152/http://asba-art.org/member-gallery/alice-tangerini)from the
original on April 13, 2016.
4. Robbins, Ted (September 8, 2009)."Illustrator Keeps Artistic Vision Despite Eye Injury"(http://www.npr.org/templates/
story/story.php?storyId=112515247). NPR. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20160317141512/http://www.npr.or
g/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112515247) from the original on March 17, 2016.
5. "Presenters" (http://www.gnsi.science-art.com/2011wa/pages/presenters_bios.html). Guild of Natural Science
Illustrators. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20160612073048/http://www.gnsi.science-art.com/2011WA/pages/pr
esenters_bios.html) from the original on June 12, 2016.
6. Ben-Ari, Elia T. (August 1, 1999). "Better than a thousand words: Botanical artists blend science and aesthetics" (https://
web.archive.org/web/20170714140002/https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/49/8/60 2/254557/Better-than-a-thou
sand-wordsBotanical-artists). BioScience. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original (https://academic.oup.co
m/bioscience/article/49/8/602/254557/Better -than-a-thousand-wordsBotanical-artists)on July 14, 2017.
7. "Publications List for 'Tangerini, Al.' " (https://web.archive.org/web/20170714140038/http://botany.si.edu/staff/showFull
List.cfm?thisAuthor=Tangerini,%20Al). National Museum of Natural History. Archived from the original (http://botany.
si.edu/staff/showFullList.cfm?thisAuthor=Tangerini,%20Al) on July 14, 2017.
8. "Alice Tangerini" (http://arts.vcu.edu/where-are-they-now/alice-tangerini/) . Virginia Commonwealth University.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20150906150609/http://arts.vcu.edu/where-are-they-now/alic e-tangerini/) from
the original on September 6, 2015.
9. "Science as Art: The Beauty of Botanical Illustration"(https://web.archive.org/web/20170714140109/https://smithsonia
nassociates.org/ticketing/Tickets/Reserve.aspx?id=236281). Smithsonian Associates. February 12, 2017. Archived from
the original (https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/Tickets/Reserve.aspx?id=236281)on July 14, 2017.
10. Kapsalis, Effie (August 24, 2016)."Wonderful Women Wednesday: Alice R. Tangerini" (https://siarchives.si.edu/blog/w
onderful-women-wednesday-alice-r-tangerini). Smithsonian Institution Archives. Archived (https://web.archive.org/we
b/20170315173930/https://siarchives.si.edu/blog/wonderful-women-wednesday-alice-r -tangerini) from the original on
March 15, 2017.
11. "Winter 2011 Newsmakers" (https://web.archive.org/web/20170714140142/https://www.osia.org/news/nm2011/winter.p
hp). Order Sons of Italy in America. 2011. Archived from the original (https://www.osia.org/news/nm2011/winter.php)
on July 14, 2017.

External links
Alice Tangerini on the National Museum of Natural History website

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alice_Tangerini&oldid=792275946"

Categories: 1949 births Living people People from Takoma Park, Maryland Artists from Maryland
American women illustrators Botanical illustrators Smithsonian Institution people
Virginia Commonwealth University alumni People from Kensington, Maryland
20th-century American artists 20th-century women artists 21st-century American artists
21st-century women artists

This page was last edited on 25 July 2017, at 15:52.


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