New photography by Shannon Ruff captured with a digital camera-2007.

Wild Indigo / Baptisia tinctoria

Artist Elizabeth (Bessie) Murray Tyler (American, 1892 - 1980)

CultureAmerican

Dateca. 1934

MediumWatercolor and graphite

DimensionsOverall: 8 11/16 x 7 in. (22.1 x 17.8 cm)
Overall, Mat: 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)

SignedSigned lower right; dated June 6

InscribedGrows in dry soil from June to September and ranges from Maine to Florida. A blue coloring is made from his plant. Farmers in Maryland and Virginia have great faith in this plant and tie it to the harness of their horses to keep away the flies. [edited transcription]

Credit LineMuseum collection

Object number41.45.90

Not on view

DescriptionPart of the Tidewater Wildflowers series, done as a WPA Project. Watercolor depicting Indigo Wild. Set aside and not to be mounted by Committee decision of 1/21/56.

Label TextWild Indigo / Baptisia tinctoria, ca. 1934 Watercolor and graphite Grows in dry soil from June to September and ranges from Maine to Florida. A blue coloring is made from his plant. Farmers in Maryland and Virginia have great faith in this plant and tie it to the harness of their horses to keep away the flies. Museum collection 41.45.90 Exhibition History"Tidewater Wildflowers: Watercolors by Bessie Tyler," Willoughby-Baylor House, Norfolk, VA, April 16, 2015 - March 6, 2016.