Sugar Hackberry (Celtis laevigata) — Fine Art Print

The Sugar Hackberry is a common shade tree of southern bottomlands, recognized by its smooth gray bark studded with corky warts. Its small, sweet berries sustain many birds, and it is a larval host for several butterflies.

This print features Robert O'Brien's botanical illustration of the Sugar Hackberry (Celtis laevigata), from the series of Texas and native trees he created for the art collection of The Austonian in Austin, Texas.

About the print

• 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