All photographs and images courtesy of the Oak Spring Garden Library unless otherwise noted.
In the 1960s Rachel Lambert Mellon, the self-effacing confidant of the rich, famous and powerful who was known from childhood as Bunny, served on the board of the New York Botanical Garden.
In fact, while Mrs. Mellon did come from wealth, she married into even bigger wealth.
Konrad von Megenberg (German, 1309–74) manuscript text and watercolor on paper in Buch der natur, ca.
As for her “green thumb,” from the time she was a young girl observing the legendary Olmsted brothers working on her father’s New Jersey estate, Bunny Mellon was in love with plants and gardens and all things horticultural.
Pierre-Joseph Redouté (French, 1759–1840) Tulips and Roses, 1811 watercolor on vellum. In time there were many prestigious commissions including the re-design of the Rose Garden at the White House and the restoration of Louis XIV’s vegetable garden at Versailles, the Potager du Roi.
Cristofaro Munari, attrib. Always she returned home to tiny Upperville, Virginia where she was only too happy to pick up her trowels and pruners and set to work in her own garden.
Jacques LeMoyne de Morgues A Young Daughter of the Picts, ca. Three experts worked for two years culling the highly idiosyncratic bounty of her passion for all objects, books, and art works related to plants.
Georg Dionysius Ehret, Magnolia grandiflora ca.
A 1990 oil painting of a dandelion by French artist Sophie Grandval demonstrates Mrs. Mellon’s penchant for making unconventional choices for her collection, which also includes works by Picasso, Rousseau and Warhol, none of whom are known for conventional botanical art.
Jan van Kessel the Elder, 1653-58. One of the most astonishing pieces in the current exhibit is a series of 17 oil paintings on copper done by the Flemish artist Jan van Kessel the Elder in the 17th century.
Nicolas Robert (French, 1614–85), watercolor on vellum with gold borders.
Jean-Marie Farina (Giovanni Maria Farina) (Italian, 1685–1766) Jean-Marie Farina Company: Paris, ca.
By the 1970s Mellon’s collection had grown so large that it was housed in several buildings on her estate, Oak Spring Farm. In 1976 she began working with New York City architect Edward Larrabee Barnes to design a library spacious enough for all of her treasures.
Henri Julien Félix Rousseau, (French, 1844–1910) Flowers of Poetry, 1890–95, oil on canvas. Redoute to Warhol: Bunny Mellon’s Botanical Art runs through February 12, 2017 at the New York Botanical Garden.