UCLA, Library Special Collections, Medicine and Science

The Murman collection consists of 495 original watercolors and 26 photographs of California native plants, representing 85 different families and ca. 460 species. The paintings are scientifically accurate as well as artistic, each showing details of a branch and enlarged paintings of the flowers, fruit, and other diagnostic parts. Murman, originally a Russian banker, trained as a commercial artist after his emigration to the U.S. in 1905 and became a furniture designer in Los Angeles in 1906. After his retirement, he began traveling throughout California making preliminary sketches, color notes, and photographs of plants and collecting dried specimens; using these, Murman produced his body of watercolors in his home studio. Each series in the Container List represents a plant family. Each entry represents one plate, listing the scientific and common name, date & place of specimen collection, plus notes.