Rupert Barneby: A Tribute
I stumbled across this article in JSTOR, a touching tribute to Dr. Rupert C. Barneby of New York Botanical Garden fame.
- Crase, Douglas (2001). Ruperti Imagines: A Portrait of Rupert Barneby. Brittonia, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Jan. – Mar., 2001), pp. 1-40. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2666532
Barneby (1911-2000) was a remarkable man who studied extensively the Fabaceae (Leguminosae) (the pea family) as well as numerous other groups at the New York Botanical Garden from the 1950s until his death in 2000. He named over 1100 new species and published often. In JSTOR, there are 119 articles published by the man. His lifelong partner was Harry Dwight Dillon, a linguist, artists, author, and fellow plant lover. They met in school in the UK and traveled the world together collecting plants. Dillon’s art exhibited at Guggenheim’s Art of This Century Gallery. He has six plant species named after him. He passed away in 1973.
The article on Barneby does an excellent job of demonstrating the natural intersects between plant appreciation and artistic expression. Both Barneby and Dillon were self-taught botanists, transforming a love of nature into something much more than a hobby. Crase’s article pulls out all the stops when describing Barneby’s abode.
On the floors were antique Bijar rugs, on the walls an oil by Miro, two transitional drawings by Jackson Pollack, foxed botanical prints (of Astragalus), a landscape by Edward Lear, and, lined up wherever there was an available shelf or ledge, the books that included rare floras, first edition poetry, travel guides in French, Spanish, German, Portuguese.
Further mention of luminaries like Isherwood, Guggenheim, Marcel Duchamp, Auden, mixed in with botanical stalwarts such as Bentham and Hooker (click those links and ye shall be rewarded). A painting in the bedroom from Dillon, Barneby’s partner of 48 years. Floras, botanical prints. All blended into one organic whole. A very touching tribute and one that further exposes the human side of the plant science. Collectors transversing the world, partners in tow. Collaborations, companions, discovery.
And a personal favorite is below. Perezia moschata La Llave & Lex. from the family Asteraceae collected in Mexico, 24 kilometers west of Morelia in 1967 by H.D.D. Ripley and R.C. Barneby. We have quite a few materials in JSTOR Plant Science from these two so be sure to take a look:
Neotype of Perezia moschata La Llave & Lex.: family ASTERACEAE. From the great New York Botanical Garden. Collectors: R.C. Barneby and H.D.D. Ripley.
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