by Jutta Buck
with Cynthia Rice
Contemporary botanical art grows from long established traditions, integrating the history of art and the sciences of botany, horticulture, medicine and agriculture. Knowing this history adds to our pleasure in viewing botanical art today. As artists our vision is expanded, and our skills enhanced by studying the work of our forebears. For observers and collectors, appreciation matures with a greater understanding of the traditions and evolution of the genre.
This brief history is an introduction to the luminaries of the field, both artists and patrons, along with some of their illustrious work. It invites the reader to become even more familiar with the rich history of botanical art and its present-day incarnation.
Chapter 1 - Antiquity
Chapter 2 - Early Portrayal of Plants
Chapter 3 - Emergence of Naturalism
Chapter 4 - The Renaissance
Chapter 5 - Early Printing
Chapter 6 - Modern Age of Botany
Chapter 7 - The Groundwork of Modern Taxonomy
Chapter 8 - The Florilegium
Chapter 9 - Creation of Les Velins du Roi
Chapter 10 - Botanical Books of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
Chapter 11 - Beginning of Modern Classification
Chapter 12 - Circle of Georg Dionysius Ehret
Chapter 13 - Early Nineteenth Century English Horticulture
Chapter 14 - The Era of Pierre Joseph Redouté
Chapter 15 - French Botanical Art Succeeding Redouté
Chapter 16 - Continuing the Tradition
References
Primula vulgaris, Red chalk on paper, Nicolas Robert, ca. 1650, from the collection of Masterpieces of Botanical Illustration at the Austrian National Library in Vienna.