page_title: Alice Tangerini
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Alice Tangerini / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: Larsenianthus wardianus W. J. Kress, Thet Htun &amp; Bordelon. A overall habit B leaf base with petiole and ligule C inflorescence D inflorescence bract E bracteole F calyx, spread open G flower, lateral view H flower, front view I flower, semi-lateral view with corolla tube cut away to show epigynous nectaries and style J base of flower, cut-way view to show style, and ovary K anther with slightly protruding stigma L ovary, transverse section. Line drawing by Alice Tangerini from plants in cultivation; Botany Research Greenhouse Accession #02-7054 and US National Herbarium voucher W. J. Kress 10-8750.
context_page_description: Alice R. Tangerini is an American botanical illustrator. In 1972, Tangerini was hired as a staff illustrator for the Department of Botany at the National Museum of Natural History by American botanist Lyman Bradford Smith. Prior to working at the Smithsonian Institution, she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University. As of March 9, 2017, Tangerini remains the only botanical illustrator ever hired by the Smithsonian.
  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.
context_section_description: Tangerini primarily does her illustrations in the United States National Herbarium, and worked under American botanist Warren H. Wagner. 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. She differentiated botanical art from fine art by clarifying that "botanical art had to be recognized at least to genus, if not to species".
  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. 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. She has also experimented with creating colored illustrations. 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.
  Tangerini's illustrations have been featured in numerous scientific publications, such as The Flora of the Guianas, as well as a number of books. 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. 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. In the same year, scholars Theodore H. Fleming and W. John Kress thanked Tangerini in the preface of their book The Ornaments of Life: Coevolution and Conservation in the Tropics for her help with the cover and a figure included in the text. As of 2015, Tangerini has been developing a website to catalog her work and those from other illustrators working in the herbarium. As of March 9, 2017, Tangerini remains the only botanical illustrator ever hired by the Smithsonian.
  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. She is a manager and curator for botanical art in the National Museum of Natural History's botany department, and runs the Smithsonian Catalog of Botanical Illustrations. She also serves as a board member on the American Society of Botanical Artists.
caption: Larsenianthus wardianus as illustrated by Tangerini
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