Fragaria: Pearl

Amanda Almira Newton prints come from one of America's great botanical archives. From 1896 to 1928 Newton painted fruit for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and her watercolours make up about one-sixth of the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection. Our collection of fine art prints includes her citrus, stone fruit, grapes, strawberries, avocados and persimmons, plus rarer fruit such as mangosteens, granadillas and baobab pods.

About Amanda Almira Newton

Amanda Almira Newton was an American botanical illustrator, born around 1860; one source gives 1858. She was the granddaughter of Isaac Newton, the first U.S. Commissioner of Agriculture, and she spent most of her working life at the department he had led.

From 1896 to 1928 she painted fruit for the USDA, producing more than 1,200 finished watercolours. They recorded the new varieties that growers and plant explorers were bringing into the country, so that each could be identified and compared.

She also made wax models of about 300 fruit specimens, some shown at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis. She died in 1943.

Style and Subjects

Newton painted each fruit life-size and with scientific care: the exact colour of the skin, the blush on a peach, the bloom on a grape. Many sheets show a whole fruit beside a cut half, so you can see the flesh, the seeds and the thickness of the rind. Leaves and stems are added where they help to identify the variety.

The pictures sit on plain cream paper, often with a small handwritten label naming the variety. That simple layout gives them a clean, calm look that suits modern interiors as well as traditional ones.

Famous Works

• Persea: Trapp (1916), USDA National Agricultural Library. A green-and-gold avocado cut in half, from a sheet English Wikipedia reproduces.
• Cydonia oblonga: Champion (1909), USDA National Agricultural Library. A smooth yellow quince beside a cut half.
• Diospyros: Hachiya (1915), USDA National Agricultural Library. A bright orange Japanese persimmon.
• Rubus: Schaffer, USDA National Agricultural Library. A Schaffer raspberry, one of the Newton sheets the USDA featured in 2000.
• Garcinia mangostana (Mangosteen), USDA National Agricultural Library. A dark-rinded mangosteen opened to show its white segments.
• Citrus limon: Etrog, USDA National Agricultural Library. A bumpy yellow citron.
• Passiflora quadrangularis (Giant Granadilla), USDA National Agricultural Library. A huge passion fruit cut open to show its seeds.

Decorating with Newton Prints

Newton's fruit is a natural choice for the kitchen, breakfast nook or dining room. Hang a row of citrus over a counter, a pair of avocados by the table, or a grid of grapes, plums and cherries for a farmhouse or orchard feel.

Because the backgrounds are plain and pale, the prints also suit bright, modern spaces with white walls and light wood. Simple oak, white or thin black frames work best, and matching frames help a set read as one piece.

FAQ

Who was Amanda Almira Newton?

Amanda Almira Newton (c. 1860–1943) was an American botanical illustrator who painted fruit for the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1896 to 1928.

What is the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection?

A collection of about 7,000 fruit watercolours and some wax models, made by government artists to record fruit varieties grown in the United States. Newton painted about one-sixth of it.

Where are Newton's original watercolours?

They are held by the USDA National Agricultural Library in Beltsville, Maryland. Access is through Special Collections, and many sheets are online.

How many paintings did Amanda Newton make?

More than 1,200 finished watercolours, plus wax models of about 300 fruit specimens.

Was she related to Isaac Newton?

Yes, but not the physicist. Her grandfather was Isaac Newton, the first U.S. Commissioner of Agriculture.

Related Artists

• Deborah Griscom Passmore: the most prolific USDA fruit painter of the same years
• Ellen Isham Schutt: fellow USDA pomological artist
• Royal Charles Steadman: USDA fruit painter of the next generation
• Mary Daisy Arnold: another USDA watercolourist of fruit