ARTIST’S STATEMENT

 According to Al himself, he paints “…to express my love of the form and function of living organisms – of the structural solidity of rocks and geological strata – or the play of light on flowing water.  My specialty has been plants, depicted through art in various media:  oils, acrylics, pastels and watercolors as well as in pen and ink.

 Drawing has been a big part of my botany classes.  As a botany professor, I have a compelling need for accurate description, however I do not sacrifice the vitality of a line or brush stroke to science.  The desire to depict  the play of dappled light and color in natural ecosystems has found its way into my landscape paintings, sometimes at the scale of a few square centimeters and sometimes in scenes of rainforests, at the scale of huge trees.  As a scientific scholar, I enjoy the microscopic study of the intimate details of plants.  Drawing, which has played a big role in both my writing and teaching is therefore one of my greatest loves.”

BIOGRAPHY

Born in Montclair, New Jersey, Dr. Albert List, Jr. developed an early fascination with the unusual flora of the Jersey Pinelands.  He has since become one of the premier botanical experts on the area.  An internationally recognized botanist, Dr. List’s ability to elegantly illustrate his own scientific work and to translate these further into works of fine art sets him apart from his peers.

EDUCATION & TEACHING

Al List’s artistic studies also began at an early age.  As a teenager, he explored painting under David T. Atwater of Rockport, Massachusetts.  In 1949, he continued these studies under artist Sidney Laufman at the Art Students League in New York City.  On top of getting  his BS degree in botany from the University of Massachusetts, Dr. List also studied drawing under Ian MacIver there in 1953.  In 1963 he received his MS and Ph.D. in botany from Cornell University.  After graduating  from Cornell, Dr. List worked as an Assistant Professor of Botany at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey (1962-1965) and in a Public Health Traineeship/Postdoctoral position at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia from 1967-1994.  In 1998, Dr. List received Drexel University’s Teaching Award

© 2000  Ilka List
Folshaw, watercolor on paper

© 2005  Ilka List
Cedar Bog, watercolor on paper
 

© 2995  Jim Davidson Another  candid shot of Al List. Here he is inspecting moss.  Taken while on a botanical hike with two of his friends/colleagues Dr. Allison Brown and Dr.  Jim Davidson.