Alice Rieder Wilkerson — Tulips

Alice Rieder Wilkerson — Tulips

Date: 
Medium: Watercolor
Dimensions: 12 x 14 in.
Signature: right bottom "A Wilk"

Tulips is a distinctive watercolor study in which Alice Rieder Wilkerson paints a bouquet of variegated red-and-white tulips against a restrained, earth-toned field. The petals are rendered with brisk, unfixed edgework, allowing pigment and water to meet in soft, luminous diffusion. The stems and leaves bend in elongated, expressive arcs, introducing movement and the subtle tension of vertical lift against botanical weight.

Uniquely, this composition was executed upside down by the artist, a practice Wilkerson occasionally used to disengage from the literal subject and heighten formal decision-making. The technique results in petals that feel both botanical and abstract, suspended between accuracy and emotional immediacy.

Rather than pursuing botanical realism, Wilkerson positions the tulips as rhythmic shapes: bursts of red tempera-touch watercolor set against vaporous greens and umber shadow washes. Her handling of petals avoids strict contour, instead embracing dissolution and translucency—an approach aligned with her European training and expressive floral studies.