Copa De Oro

Title: Copa De Oro
LC Subject: Prints--Technique Print makers Serigraphy Flowers in art California poppy printmaking screen prints
Creator: Hall, Bonnie
Description: Eschsholtzia californica. California Poppy Here is perhaps the most celebrated West Coast wildflower. Called Copa de Oro by the earliest Hispanic inhabitants, this golden poppy once emblazoned such vast fields that its brilliant color was visible from sailing ships miles offshore -- a plausible basis for the early name La Tierra del Fuego, land of fire. Discouraged by grazing, agriculture, and development, it now blooms in lesser abundance, May-September, from Southern California north to the Columbia River, and elsewhere escaped from garden plantings. This marvelous perennial arises from a deep taproot and generally reaches two feet in height. The flowers are two to three inches across and vary from pale to deep yellow and orange. They are remarkably responsive to sunlight, closing at nightfall or in overcast weather. Sepals are united in a conical structure that is thrust off by the opening petals, much like doffing a little hat. The seed capsule is linear and tipped by the withering styles. The foliage is grayish-green and finely divided. E. Californica owes its introduction to the botanical world to three explorer naturalists and a coincident Russian. Archibald Menzies, Scottish botanist and surgeon with Captain George Vancouver, was first to collect specimens for transport to foreign shores, in Monterey in December if 1792. But his classification was incorrect, his collection suffered badly on shipboard, and the plants delivered to Kew Gardens soon died. Next was Adelbert van Chamisso, French naturalist with the Russian Romanoff expedition, spending October of 1816 at San Francisco. Here he collected, described, classified, and named Eschscholtzia californica after the ship's noble young surgeon, Johann Friedrich Escholtz. Finally, it came to David Douglas, Scottish botanist and practical gardener, to convey this vibrant poppy to the world. Collecting along the Multnomah (Willamette) River in 1825, he first encountered E. colifornica and sent back to the Horticultural Society of London the seeds that thrived in English gardens and beyond. (provided by Oregon Arts Commission) Copa de Oro; [no.] 3; 1992 The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Linn-Benton Arts. You may view their website at: http://www.artcentric.org/
Location: The Valley Library >> Benton County >> Oregon >> United States Benton County >> Oregon >> United States
Street Address: 121 The Valley Library, Corvallis, OR
Date: 1975/2012
Identifier: 1995_osu_valley-library_28_d01
Accession Number: 1995_osu_valley-library_28_d01
Rights: In Copyright
Dc Rights Holder: Hall, Bonnie
Type: Image
Format: image/tiff
Measurements: 20 x 16 inches
Material: Printmaking; screenprint
Set: Oregon Percent for Art
Primary Set: Oregon Percent for Art
Relation: 1995 - 1997 Biiennium Valley Library Oregon State University, Corvallis Oregon 1995_osu_valley-library
Has Version: slide; color
Institution: Oregon Arts Commission University of Oregon
Note: To view a map of the artwork location in context to Oregon State University, see http://oregonstate.edu/cw_tools/campusmap/locations.php
Color Space: RGB
Biographical Information: These pieces are contemporary renditions in the classic tradition of botanical illustration, which communicates, in an artful manner, as much information as possible about a given plant. They celebrate overlooked, undervalued, or threatened Northwest native wildflower species in the hope of increasing awareness and appreciation. Each of the plants portrayed has a special link with the human history of the region.