I bought this book from Manchester Art Gallery a few years ago. The striking painting of a tulip on the front cover by Georg Dionysius Ehret caught my eye. A compact, well-crafted production, this book is about flowers in art and is mainly images with a little text.
Flowers are one of the most popular subjects for artwork but their qualities can be difficult to capture. In the hands of some artists they become insipid, while in others they are incredible. A wonderful variety of styles and eras are represented in this book. My favourites are works by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Yuko Shimizu, Rachel Levy and Cedric Morris. Generally I would rather look at real flowers than at flower artwork but these are all worth looking at over and over. It really is a book to treasure and would make a lovely gift to someone or for yourself.
Published in 2019 by Laurence King.