Esther Heins

A botanical artist, illustrated a book of the trees of Harvard's Arnold Arboretum, titled Flowering Trees and Shrubs: Botanical Art of Esther Heins (Abrams, 1987). It included the Arnold Arboretum's introductions to cultivation and was listed as a "Notable Book" of the New York Times of that year. She also painted many illustrations for Horticulture magazine in 1982 and 1983 (articles written by Gordon DeWolf); her paintings were used for a series of covers on JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association), beginning in 1981 with the "Ferocactus, and the most recent cover was on June 2007 with "Tree Peony"; and had covers on the Arnoldia (Arnold Arboretum publication). She exhibited in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation (she appeared in 3rd and 4th International Exhibition of Botanical Art), Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), and nationwide in the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. She had many one-woman shows, including W. Graham Arader Gallery in New York (1988), Harvard-Radcliffe Hilles Library (1976, chosen by Agnes Mongan), Radcliffe Institute (1998), Rosequist Gallery (Tucson), Boston Public Library, and Arnold Arboretum. Her work is in the permanent collection of Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Fogg Museum, Hunt Collection for Botanical Documentation, Boston Public Library, Arnold Arboretum, and many private collections. She was born in Brooklyn in Nov. 10, 1908. Known for her artistic talent, she was educated at the Mass. School of Art (now Mass. College of Art) where she studied under Ernest L. Major and received a B.S. in education (1929). After she married Harold Heins, an electronic engineer, she freelanced as a commercial artist for the major Boston department stores (Jordan's, R.H. White's) where she did black-and-white drawings for the newspapers. She painted landscapes and still lifes in her spare time. Eventually she was asked by the Arnold Arboretum to do a series of botanical works to illustrate their introductions to cultivation. She is survived by two children, Marilyn Heins MD and Judith Leet; four grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and a sister Helen Cohen. She lived most of her life in Marblehead, Mass. After enjoying her 99th birthday on Nov.10, she died on Dec. 3, 2007. Arrangements by Eustis Cornell Funeral Home, Marblehead, MA