Mary Vaux Walcott: North American Wild Flowers Prints
The “Audubon of Botany.” The story of Mary Vaux Walcott, the Philadelphia Quaker who measured Canadian glaciers, climbed Mount Stephen and painted the 400 plates of North American Wild Flowers, plus her pitcherplants, the best wildflower prints, and how to hang Mary Vaux Walcott art prints at home. By Artwork Culture.
Mary Vaux Walcott (1860–1940) painted the wildflowers of North America in the places they grew, from alpine meadows in the Canadian Rockies to pine barrens of the East and deserts in Arizona. A Philadelphia Quaker who first went west in 1887, she spent decades photographing and measuring glaciers before her paintings became the five volumes of North American Wild Flowers (Smithsonian Institution, 1925–1929), with 400 plates. She has been called the “Audubon of Botany.”
This guide covers her life, the glacier work, the Smithsonian book and the printing process made for it, her pitcherplants, and the flowers that make the best wall art. Our Mary Vaux Walcott collection holds over 1,000 of her botanical watercolors and early studies as archival prints, from the showy lady’s slipper to the ocotillo.
Who Was Mary Vaux Walcott?
Mary Morris Vaux was born in Philadelphia on 31 July 1860 into a wealthy Quaker family. The name is said “vox.” She graduated from Friends Select School in 1879, and when her mother died the next year she took charge of the household for her father and her younger brothers, George and William. She painted from girlhood: our collection includes flower studies, autumn leaves and pencil heads of children from the 1870s.
Her life changed in 1887, when the family travelled west to the Canadian Rockies and the Selkirks. She returned almost every summer for the rest of her life. In 1914, at 54, she married Charles Doolittle Walcott, a widower, paleontologist and Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. They spent summers on expeditions in the West together, and she painted while he worked on fossils. After his death in 1927 she stayed in Washington, served on the federal Board of Indian Commissioners (1927–1932) and was elected president of the Society of Woman Geographers in 1933. She died in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, on 22 August 1940.
How to spot a Mary Vaux Walcott watercolor:
- One plant, life size: a single stem or clump, painted at natural size from the root or base up, like the glacier lily.
- Bare paper: no background or setting, just the plant on a cream or pale grey sheet.
- Field accuracy: the leaves, buds, flowers and sometimes fruit of one species, drawn with a botanist’s eye.
- A small inscription: her initials or name, a place and a date in the lower corner, often in pencil or red ink.
- Clear, fresh color: transparent washes, with strong reds and pinks for paintbrushes, pitcherplants and orchids.
Glaciers and Mountains
On the family’s first trip west in 1887, the Vaux siblings saw the Illecillewaet Glacier near Rogers Pass in the Selkirks, and then saw how much it had shrunk on later visits. They began to record it. With her brothers, Mary Vaux took about 2,500 photographs of the glacier on glass plate negatives, which she developed herself. William set iron markers in the rock as fixed photo points, and she measured the retreat of the ice against rope lines and boulders. Between 1909 and 1910 she worked out that the glacier flowed downhill about 3.74 inches a day, using red-painted steel plates set on the ice. Her findings were published in the Canadian Alpine Journal in 1911.
The Vaux work is counted among the first formal glacier studies in Canada. It also made her a climber. At 40, in 1900, she is credited as the first woman to climb Mount Stephen, a peak of over 10,000 feet above Field in British Columbia, and she was a founding member of the Alpine Club of Canada. Her photographs and lantern slides, some hand-coloured by her, are now in the Vaux family fonds at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff.
In the mountains she began to paint the flowers she found. Our collection has her alpine plants from the 1900s and 1910s: moss campion, avalanche lily, lemon columbine, Rocky Mountain rhododendron (1901) and fireweed, along with mountain conifers such as Engelmann spruce, whitebark pine and Lyall’s larch.
North American Wild Flowers
Walcott lectured on and exhibited her wildflower paintings for years before friends urged her to publish them. The Smithsonian had no budget for a book of that kind, so North American Wild Flowers was sold by subscription. The plan, as the Smithsonian Libraries tell it, was five volumes of 80 loose plates each, printed at natural size, with title pages and text designed by the typographers Frederic and Bertha Goudy. A deluxe set, signed and numbered, cost $500 in advance, and printing could not start until at least 100 sets were reserved. J. P. Morgan took three.
The book appeared from 1925 to 1929: 400 plates with a short description of each plant. Its cost rose to nearly $750,000, and the Walcotts helped pay for it themselves. Proceeds went to the Smithsonian’s endowment, and the last of the stock was sold to a book dealer in the 1960s. An abridged edition followed, and the full set is now digitized on the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
The Smithsonian Process
The plates were printed by William Edwin Rudge, a New York printer Walcott met at an exhibition of her work at the Anderson Galleries. Rudge printed thin layers of waterproof ink from Beck Engraving Company plates onto heavy cotton rag paper, without letting each colour dry fully. He then dipped each sheet in water to raise the paper’s texture again and dried it by hand, so the print kept the soft grain of a watercolor. The method became known as the Smithsonian Process.
Walcott wrote in 1924 that the result was “a reproduction that can hardly be told from the original sketch,” and saw the book as the first of its kind since Audubon’s Birds of America. When Rudge showed the process to about 200 publishers, scientists and museum directors in 1925, one newspaper reported that only a strong magnifying glass told print from painting.
Walcott’s Pitcherplants
Walcott’s second Smithsonian book was Illustrations of North American Pitcherplants (1935), with 15 of her paintings. Pitcherplants catch insects in tall, hollow leaves, and their veined trumpets and nodding flowers suited her life-size approach. She painted them in southern bogs and on the Pacific coast: the trumpetleaf, Sarracenia flava; the sweet pitcherplant; the red pitcherplant (1930); the green pitcherplant (1933) of the southern Appalachians; and the cobra-headed California pitcherplant (1924).
Eastern and Southern Wildflowers
Her paintings from the 1910s on also cover the woods, swamps and pine barrens of the eastern and southern United States. Our collection has the spring flowers of the eastern woods, such as bloodroot (1917), Virginia bluebells and trailing arbutus; flowering trees such as the tuliptree (1918), southern magnolia in fruit and the American chestnut (1932), painted as blight was wiping it out; and the flame azalea of the Appalachians.
Look too for the strawberry bush, which she titled with its folk name “Hearts Bustin’ with Love” (1930), the cardinal flower, the American waterlily and the wild orchids: yellow fringe orchid, large purple fringe orchid, arethusa and pink lady’s slipper.
Desert and Western Plants
In the 1920s and 1930s Walcott painted in the Southwest and California. These are some of her boldest sheets: the Spanish bayonet yucca (1935), the hedgehog cactus (1933), the sego lily (1933), Utah’s state flower, and the bitterroot (1915), Montana’s. She also painted the giant sequoia as early as 1896, showing a spray of its scaly foliage with the cones.
Early Studies and Sketches
Before the wildflowers, Walcott was a young amateur learning to draw and paint in Philadelphia. Our collection includes these early pieces: the crimson Autumn Leaf of 1872, Rosebuds (1874), Pansies and Ivy (1876), the Canada lily (1878), the pencil Head of a Child (1878) and Head of a Child Looking Down, the hothouse Cattleya orchid (1881) and Flowers from the Mesa (1883).
Famous Mary Vaux Walcott Prints
Nine prints to start with, all in our collection:
Showy Lady’s Slipper
1924, orchid family. One of the largest native orchids of the northern US, with white petals and a pink-striped pouch above broad ribbed leaves. Our hero image and a natural first choice.
Glacier Lily
1925, lily family. Bright yellow nodding lilies from the edge of the snow. Cheerful and simple, good in a pair with the white avalanche lily.
Giant Red Paintbrush
1921, broomrape family. Scarlet bracts on slender stems. The strongest red in her mountain work.
Parrot Pitcherplant
1925, pitcherplant family. Veined pitchers at the base and red flowers above. A conversation piece for a study or bathroom.
Calypso Orchid
1916, orchid family. A tiny pink fairy-slipper orchid on a near-empty sheet. Delicate and quiet; best at small sizes.
Flowering Dogwood
1926, dogwood family. Red berries and turning leaves. A warm autumn print for living rooms.
Ocotillo
1925, ocotillo family. Flame-coloured flower spikes. Suits desert-modern and Southwestern rooms.
Sequoia
1896, cypress family. Green, mossy foliage and cones on a grey sheet. One of her earliest tree studies.
Autumn Leaf
1872, early study. A single crimson leaf with its shadow, inscribed and dated when she was about 12. Simple and graphic.
What Our Mary Vaux Walcott Prints Show
Our Mary Vaux Walcott collection lists 1,168 prints. 1,053 carry titles of her works; most are dated wildflower watercolors, and many plants appear twice, as a field painting from the 1910s or 1920s and as the version titled with the 1925 book year. The rest are early studies, untitled flower studies and sketches.
Her original watercolors are mostly in Washington: the Smithsonian American Art Museum holds nearly 800 works by her, credited as a gift of the artist. Browse the full range in the Mary Vaux Walcott collection, or see more botanical art prints.
Where to See Walcott’s Work and Mountains
Walcott’s paintings, photographs and mountains can all still be visited. These are good places to start.
The main places to look:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Holds nearly 800 of Walcott’s watercolors and drawings, from her early studies to the wildflower paintings. Watercolors are light-sensitive and rarely on view, but the collection can be searched online.
Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Banff
Its archives hold the Vaux family fonds: glacier negatives, photograph albums and lantern slides, some hand-coloured by Mary Vaux. Archive visits are by appointment.
Glacier National Park of Canada, British Columbia
The Illecillewaet Glacier the Vaux family photographed rises above Rogers Pass. Hiking trails from the Illecillewaet campground lead up toward the ice, and the retreat since the 1880s is plain to see.
Yoho and Jasper National Parks
Mount Stephen, the peak she climbed in 1900, stands over Field in Yoho. Mount Mary Vaux in Jasper National Park is named for her. Glacier lilies, paintbrushes and moss campion flower in these mountains in summer; check trail and park conditions before you go.
How to Decorate with Mary Vaux Walcott Prints
- Wildflower walls: the paintings share one format, a single plant on a cream sheet, so they work in grids of four, six or nine. Group by colour, by region or by family, such as orchids or lilies.
- Cabins and lake houses: her Rockies flowers and conifers, such as the glacier lily, fireweed and Lyall’s larch, suit wood, stone and mountain views.
- Bold single prints: the ocotillo, red paintbrush and showy lady’s slipper hold a wall alone at 24×36 inches or larger.
- Small spaces: delicate plants such as the calypso orchid and early studies such as Autumn Leaf read best at 8×10 to 16×20.
- Frames and mats: warm ivory mats echo the paper; thin oak, walnut or black frames suit the plain sheets. Leave generous white space around the plant.
- Mix with other naturalists: pair Walcott with John James Audubon’s birds or the flowers of Pierre-Joseph Redouté, or with Rockies landscapes by Albert Bierstadt.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Mary Vaux Walcott?
Mary Vaux Walcott (1860–1940) was an American watercolorist, photographer and naturalist from Philadelphia. She studied Canadian glaciers with her brothers from 1887, married Smithsonian Secretary Charles D. Walcott in 1914, and painted the 400 plates of North American Wild Flowers (1925–1929). She is often called the Audubon of Botany.
How do you pronounce Vaux?
Vaux is pronounced “vox,” to rhyme with “box.”
What is North American Wild Flowers?
It is a five-volume book published by the Smithsonian Institution from 1925 to 1929, with 400 colour plates of Walcott’s wildflower watercolors printed at natural size and a short description of each plant. It was sold by subscription, with deluxe signed sets at $500.
What is the Smithsonian Process?
It was the printing method William Edwin Rudge used for North American Wild Flowers. He printed waterproof inks in layers onto heavy cotton rag paper, then dipped each sheet in water and dried it by hand so the paper kept a watercolor texture. It was praised as the most faithful colour reproduction of its day.
Did Mary Vaux Walcott study glaciers?
Yes. From 1887 she and her brothers George and William photographed and measured the Illecillewaet Glacier in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, taking about 2,500 photographs. In 1909–1910 she measured its flow at about 3.74 inches a day, and she published her findings in 1911.
Where are Mary Vaux Walcott’s original paintings?
Most are at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., which holds nearly 800 of her works as a gift of the artist. The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff holds the Vaux family photographs and papers.
Where can I buy Mary Vaux Walcott art prints?
Artwork Culture sells archival wall art prints of Mary Vaux Walcott’s wildflower watercolors and early studies, in sizes from 4×6 to 40×60 inches. Browse the Mary Vaux Walcott collection or our botanical art prints.
Written by Artwork Culture. Image credits: all artwork images are Artwork Culture product photos of prints after Mary Vaux Walcott’s watercolors and drawings (1868–1939). Dates follow our product titles. Facts follow the Smithsonian Libraries article “Mary Vaux Walcott and the Smithsonian Process” (Anne Evenhaugen, 2019), the Smithsonian American Art Museum collection records, the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies archives catalogue (Vaux family fonds) and the English Wikipedia biography (October 2026). Opening times and trail conditions change, so check before you go.