ResearchGuides: Art and Science: Herbs and Flowers

Masters of Botanical Art

A Redouté treasury: 468 Water Colors from Les Liliacées of Pierre-Joseph Redouté by Peter Mallary
Call Number: QK97 .R4 1986a quarto
Publication Date: 1986
View works from Pierre-Joseph Redoute, a famous botanical artist employed by Empress Josephine and often called the "Raphael of Flowers."
Maria Sibylla Merian: the St. Petersburg Watercolours by Edited by Eckhard Hollmann
Call Number: QK98.183 .M47M47 2003
Considered the first famous German female artist, view works from every period of Merian's life.
Leonardo da Vinci on Plants and Gardens by William Emboden
Call Number: QK98.2 .E42 1987
Publication Date: 1987
Learn about Leonardo Da Vinci as a botanist through the drawings and notes that have survived the ages.
Hookers Finest Fruits: a Selection of Paintings of Fruits by William Hooker, descriptions by Frederick Roach
Call Number: QK98.183 .H66 H664 1989 quarto
Publication Date: 1989
Review William Hooker's extensive work for the Horticultural Society of London, which earned him a place in history as one of the "greatest of all fruit illustrators."
Marianne North at Kew Gardens by Laura Ponsonby
Call Number: QK98.138 .N67 P66 1990
Publication Date: 1991
Explore the life, travels and artistry of Marianne North leading to the creation of a unique gallery at Kew Gardens to house her vast collection of botanical works.
The Complete Flower Paintings and Drawings of Graham Stuart Thomas by Graham Stuart Thomas
Call Number: QK98.183.T47 T47 1987
View the art of Graham Stuart Thomas, known for his detailed reproductions of flowers, especially obscure varieties of roses.
Margaret Mee: in Search of Flowers of the Amazon Forests by Maragert Mee; edited by Tony Morrison
Call Number: QK98.2 .M43 1988
Publication Date: 1988
Review books, diaries and paintings from Margaret Mee to reveal the beauty of the rainforest.
Walter Hood Fitch: a Celebration by Jan Lewis
Call Number: QK98.183.F58 L48 1992 quarto
Publication Date: 1992
Explore the life of Walter Hood Fitch, an artist from the Victorian era, who was a "consummate lithographer" and had the unusual ability to create accurate images from dried specimens and field notes.
Drawn from Nature: the Botanical Art of Joseph Prestele and His Sons by Charles Van Ravenswaay
Call Number: QK98.183.P74 V36 1984
Publication Date: 1984
Follow the contributions to the art of lithography from this talented family as they journey from Germany to America.

Societies and Associations

American Society of Botanical Artists

"ASBA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting public awareness of contemporary botanical art, to honoring its traditions and to furthering its development."

Society of Botanical Artists, UK

"Formed to bring together botanical artists of repute...to create a focus for the continuation of the centuries-old tradition of excellence in this unique aspect of art."

Lotus

Peter Henderson, from Robert Thornton, The Temple of Flor (1807)

History of Botanical Illustration

Visual Voyages by Daniela Bleichmar
Call Number: 2nd Floor QH46.5 .B54 2017
ISBN: 9780300224023
Publication Date: 2017-10-10
Picturing the Book of Nature by Sachiko Kusukawa
Call Number: 2nd Floor QH46.5 .K87 2012
ISBN: 9780226465296
Publication Date: 2012-05-21
Drawn after Nature by Jan de Koning; Alicja Zemanek; Gerda van Uffelen; Bogdan Zemanek
Call Number: 2nd Floor QK98.2 .D37 2008 folio
ISBN: 9789050112383
Publication Date: 2008-01-01
The Gilded Canopy: Botanical Ceiling Panels of the Natural History Museum by Sandra Knapp and Bob Press
Call Number: ND2732.N3 K52 2005
Publication Date: 2005
Explore the rich stories behind the global selection of flora displayed on the ceiling panels of the Natural History Museum of London, UK.
The Art of Botanical Illustration by Wilfrid Blunt and William Stearn
Call Number: QK98 .B5 1994
Publication Date: 1994
Survey the development of botanical illustration from antiquity to modern times.
Printmaking in the Service of Botany by Gavin Bridson and Donald Wendel
Call Number: QK98.2 .B75 1986
Publication Date: 1986
Review botanical printmaking over five centuries imploying such methods as relief, intalgio, planographic and photographic illustration.
The Illustration of Plants & Gardens 1500-1850
Call Number: QK98.2 .K23 1982
Garden Eden: Masterpieces of Botanical Illustration by Walter Lack
Call Number: QK98.2 .L32 2001
Publication Date: 2001
Review selected works of botanical illustration from the Austrian National Library in Vienna.
American Botanical Prints of Two Centuries by Gavin Bridson, James White and Lugene Bruno
Call Number: QK98.3 .B742 2003
Publication Date: 2003
Review a survey of printmaking restricted to America, beginning with an early 1800's intaglio and ending with a 2000's digital print.
Picturing Plants by Gill Saunders
Call Number: QK98.15 .S28 1995
Publication Date: 1995
Explore the interdependence of art and science in botanical illustration.
The Flowers of Kew : 350 years of Flower Paintings from the Royal Botanic Gardens by Richard Mabey
Call Number: QK98.16.G7 M33 1989
Publication Date: 1989
Learn the story behind this outstanding collection, from tales of exploration to the contributions of all manner of artists.

Herbals

Medieval Herbals: the Illustrative Traditions by Minta Collins
Call Number: QK98.15 .C64 2000
Publication Date: 2000
Examine the traditions and function of herbals from the ancient Greeks to the Middle Ages.
A New Herbal by by William Turner; edited by George Chapman and Marilyn Tweddle
Call Number: QK99 .T8 1989
Publication Date: 1989
View this facsimile edition of the first attempt, in English, to identify plants of medicinal benefit by William Turner, the "Father of English Botany."

Contributions of Women

View the joint exhibition from the Linda Hall Library and the Missouri Botanical Garden Library:
Women's Work: Portraits of 12 Scientific Illustrators from the 17th to 21st Century

Figuring It Out: Science, Gender, and Visual culture by Edited by Ann Shteir and Bernard Lightman
Call Number: Q223 .F545 2006
Examine the workings of gender in science and visual representations.
Women of Flowers: a Tribute to Victorian Women Illustrators by Jack Kramer
Call Number: QK98.18 .K73 1996
Publication Date: 1996
Appreciate the complex lives and often unrecognized contributions of several historical female artists.