Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) — Fine Art Print

Few trees are as beloved in the South as the Southern Live Oak. Its massive, low-sweeping limbs can spread wider than the tree is tall, and its glossy evergreen leaves keep it green year-round, which is how it earned the name "live" oak. Found from coastal Virginia to Texas, live oaks can live for centuries, and many famous old giants have become local landmarks.

This horizontal print features Robert O'Brien's panoramic botanical illustration of the Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana), showing the full breadth of a mature tree's canopy with its leaves and acorn in fine detail. The wide format makes it a natural fit above a sofa, sideboard or bed.

Looking for a vertical version? See his Live Oak print from his Texas native tree series.

About the print

• Horizontal (landscape) format
• Museum-quality giclée on 100% cotton rag Cold Press fine art paper, matte finish
• Archival inks, printed to order in the USA
• Ships unframed. Frame under glass or acrylic for best preservation.

About the artist

Robert O'Brien was one of the most prolific and widely published botanical illustrators in the United States. Specializing in trees for more than three decades, he illustrated nearly 100 forestry field guides and nature education publications for clients from Florida to Alaska, including the USDA Forest Service, the Smithsonian, the National Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, with work also published in Austria, Canada, Sweden, Brazil and Mexico.

Educated at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Madrid, where he studied the master paintings of the Prado, he developed a distinctive method blending traditional painting with digital technique, achieving a level of botanical accuracy and detail rarely seen in the genre. His archive of more than 500 tree and plant illustrations is now cared for by his daughter, artist Kelly O'Brien.

"When I've nailed it, when I've gotten it right, that piece will go on living, long after I walk away from it." — Robert O'Brien