Martin Johnson Heade

This painting, which has been on view in the Museum’s Main Gallery, is a particular favorite of Alexis Rockman. It is a realistic representation of the South American jungle and its extraordinary botanical wonders. Heade was one of the first American artists to travel to South American. His view is not heroic or concerned with dramatic incident, but rather a microscope analysis of the environment itself: trees, minerals, flowers, and wildlife, with a feather-leafed tree fern as the center of attention. Rockman, who has studied natural history since childhood, described the painting as a postcard from an impossible place and a collision of natural science with exotic travel.