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Flowers in a Japanese Vase

Augustin Thierriat, 1854

Oil on canvas, 65 × 49 cm

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon

Adam and Eve have already been expelled from the Garden of Eden, a miraculous place where the plant life is balanced, and flowers abound…

The craftsmen of the Nile valley already delight in painting papyrus and lotus on the walls of tombs… the ultimate statements of their love of the good life.

The Cretan ceramists are already painting crocuses or other flowers on vases.

According to Pliny, pictures of flowers have been painted since the time of Alexander.

The Virgin in a Garland of Flowers

Peter Paul Rubens, c.1618

Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen

Alte Pinakothek, Munich

In the Middle Ages, the Dominican Albert the Great devoted a chapter to De plantatione viridarium, in his “Treatise on Plants”.

Tapestries with the thousand flowers of the hanging of the unicorn show lilies, roses, carnations, irises… Herbs and flowers decorate royal dwellings, while flowers are used in ceremonies and religious processions.

In a representational work, the artist searches for a compromise between imitation and the expression of his thought.

The Graces Adorning Nature

Peter Paul Rubens

The Art Museum and Gallery, Glasgow

Symbolism begins to develop each time the artist exhausts his source of inspiration in nature. Thus, painters, fascinated by the beauty of flowers which stir their imagination, express the inexpressible through allegory and symbol. But must the artist conform to the aesthetic constraints of nature…? Flowers braided into wreaths also take on several meanings. The first Christians symbolised paradise with wreaths of flowers painted close to the figures.

Basket of Flowers and Fruits

Corneille van Spaendonck, 1804

Oil on canvas, 93 × 73 cm

Private collection

Roses and lilies were frequently portrayed in the Renaissance arranged as a wreath around the Virgin, saints or angels, as in La Vierge à l’enfant avec Saint-Jean (The Virgin and Child with St. John) by Filippino Lippi, kept at the National Gallery in London. Flowers, in particular jasmine with its white star shape and sweet scent, are one of the symbols of the Virgin. For this reason the Virgin is often represented in garlands of flowers.

Roses in a Blue Vase

Anne Vallayer-Coster, 1775

Oil on leather, 46 × 37.5 cm

Private collection, London

For example, Peter Paul Rubens painted The Virgin in a Garland (kept in the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek of Munich). Flowers in the works of Van Eyck or the German masters form an entity with Christ and the Saints, and the artists take an entirely new pleasure in reproducing them. The flower symbolises grace, elegance, and kindness – meanings which are directly derived from the morphology of this graceful, elegant, delicately perfumed type of plant. Botanical naturalism emerges in Van Spaendonck’s Basket of Flowers and Fruits, with a Goldfinch on an Earthenware Jar.

Basket of Flowers and Fruits with a Goldfinch on an Earthenware Jar

Corneille van Spaendonck

Oil on wood, 50.5 × 49 cm

Private collection, Paris

It was developed by the illuminators of northern Europe at the end of the 15th century when they were weary of painting religious scenes. These painters, who were considered botanists too, catalogued the rare plants and flowers which were flooding in from different parts of the globe. Botanical gardens, such as those in Padua in 1543, were created to collect them. Botany developed rapidly in the second half of the 16th century. In 1601, the Flemish illustrator, Charles de l’Escluse devoted a work to rare plants, Rariorum plantarum, which is a huge illustrated natural history collection.

Flowers and Fruits on a Marble Table

Iphigénie Milet de Mureau

Oil on canvas, 90 × 67 cm

Private collection, Paris

From the 16th century on, the bouquet of flowers became a pretext for painters to show off their talent. It was a popular subject when the art of illumination was on the decline. Floral print-making, however, was caught up in an ever-changing organic movement, making it difficult to establish stages of style marked by innovations in the treatment attributed to this or that artist. Exotic flowers from the East or West Indies were the subject of great interest. In 1521, the Spanish discovered superb gardens in Mexico. But it was Turkey, in the second half of the 16th century, that would be the greatest source of enrichment for our gardens.

Flowers in a Greek Vase

Adèle Riché

Watercolour on vellum, 51 × 64 cm

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tours

The extreme refinement of the Persian courts had prompted them to grow flowers which their priests celebrated. Vienna was the gateway to Europe for oriental flowers, Madrid the gateway for South American ones. From then on, these flowers slowly spread into the countries of the Holy Roman Empire, into Germany and the Netherlands. They were the favourite source of inspiration for the Mannerist painters. It is natural that this taste for flowers would create a new pictorial genre. Flanders seems to have preceded other countries in this respect. The oldest dated paintings of flowers are those of Jan Brueghel (1568–1625).

Flowers in a China Vase

Emma Desportes de la Fosse

Watercolour on vellum, 79.5 × 63.7 cm

Private collection, John Mitchell and Son, London

From Brueghel’s correspondence with Cardinal Borromeo, we know the Mannerists worked in botanical gardens themselves in order to produce bouquets, and even real herbaria. Catalogues of floral shapes were thus formed and used in various pictures. Gabrielle d’Estrées au bain (Gabrielle d’Estrées Bathing), attributed to the French School at the beginning of the 17th century and kept in the Musée Condée, displays genuine botanical studies in its compositions of plants.

Flowers in a Vase with Bird

Jean-François Garneray, 1832

Oil on paper mounted on paperboard, 57 × 47 cm

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tours

This approach continued throughout the whole first half of the 17th century, as Guirlande de fleurs (Garland of Flowers) by Gaspar Pieter II Verbruggen shows, or the Grand bouquet de fleurs (Large Bouquet of Flowers) by Jan van Huysum. The inlaid coloured mosaics of the Florentine specialists then included botanical reproductions, where jasmine flowers appeared in their tables and pictures of hard stone. These works certainly inspired the cabinet makers who transposed the same motifs onto wood.

Flowers in a Bronze Vase

Théodore Chassériau

Oil on panel, 72 × 62.5 cm

Private collection

This form of decoration may be called “floral” marquetry, since furniture thus adorned is designated by this term, as if it were a material. Gole’s inventory mentions “a floral table”; “a floral writing desk”. In the second half of the 17th century, naturalist floral marquetry was practised throughout a large part of Europe: in Paris, from at least 1657; by Leonardo van der Vinne working in Florence from 1659; in the Netherlands and in England. Marquetry with floral designs was very successful from the 17th century with Jan van Meheren, until around 1900 with Majorelle.

Bunch of Flowers on a Marble Table

Simon Saint-Jean, 1843

Oil on canvas, 36.8 × 29.2 cm

Private collection, London

In the Court of Versailles the taste of luxury was rediscovered in all its artistic expressions. Textiles in particular would become the most flowery of all the decorative arts. It must be said that the brilliance of the Lyon silk artists meant that nature could be faithfully reproduced. In every instance the artist’s precision is so great that the flowers can be identified. They were arranged so as to be seen from their most characteristic angle.

Republican Flowers

Marc Bruyas, 1848

Oil on canvas, 60 × 50 cm

Private collection

In the reign of Louis XIV, the flower became the dominant element of the still lives of Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer (1634–1699), Jean-Baptiste Blin de Fontenay (1653–1715)… adorning mantelpieces, carpets and textiles in the apartments… whilst the portraits of women are embellished with garlands of flowers… Floral painting also occupied painters specialising in the Manufacture des Gobelins (the State factory of Gobelin tapestry in Paris).

Tulips, Hydrangeas and various Flowers in a Vase

Jacques-Joseph Baile, 1852

Oil on canvas, 85.5 × 65 cm

Etude Chenu, Scrive, Lyon

In 1715, Boulle’s stocks consisted of “one hundred and seventy sketches and studies of flowers painted to life” and “approximately fifty sketches of birds painted to life by Patelson” which he must have used as a model for marquetry. This highly multi-coloured floral marquetry used tropical and indigenous wood. The essential oils listed in Gole’s stock are very revealing about the effects sought: Brazilian rosewood, purple wood, yellow wood, purplish-red wood, green ebony, orange wood, cedar, etc…

Flowers in a Japanese Vase

Augustin Thierriat, 1854

Oil on canvas, 65 × 49 cm

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon

Certain pieces of furniture on Gole’s list are stated as “marquetry in four colours” (or “in three colours”). Two writing tables and a bookcase “in four colours” were also found subsequently at Etienne Fromager’s in 1702. Eventually, some flowers such as roses, lilies, lilacs and jasmine were depicted in ivory, and certain details in coloured wood parquet were executed in pewter. The pillars of the central leaf on the large closet in the Victoria and Albert Museum is executed in this way; the wood used for the base is usually ebony.

Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase

Simon Saint-Jean, 1856

Oil on canvas, 47 × 38 cm

The Hermitage, Saint Petersburg

Instead of being formed from a plank of wood, however, the base could be in ivory or shell, as Daniel Alcouffe indicated at the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV. The 18th century is generally regarded as the century of botany. In the 18th century, girls from good families had teachers of floral print-making. Pierre-Joseph Redouté remains one of the best known (1759–1840). Anne Vallayer-Coster is a specialist in painting flowers (Roses dans un vase bleu (Roses in a Blue Vase)) and demonstrates her skill at this kind of art.

Homage to the Hortense Queen

Jean-Marie Reignier, 1856

Oil on canvas, 211 × 163 cm

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon

Gérard van Spaendonck (1746–1822) and Jan Franz van Daël (1764–1840) are recognised as painters of flowers – rose, jasmine… G. van Spaendonck launched a collection entitled, “Flowers drawn to life with a collection useful for amateurs, young artists, pupils of the central schools and draughtsmen working in factories”. This genre of work undoubtedly influenced the decorative arts in general and earthenware in particular.

Many parks had their own botanical garden and allegorical monuments where people would delight, as Jean-Jacques Rousseau did, in finding the image of an idealised world.

Roses in a Crystal Vase

André Perrachon

Oil on canvas, 115 × 89 cm

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon

Romantic painting of the 19th century put a damper on the artists’ interest in flowers. Théodore Chassériau is not known for his painting of flowers, but he painted some works with success, such as the Fleurs dans un vase de bronze (Flowers in a Bronze Vase). Cézanne was a remarkable painter of still life, and he applied his talent to his flower paintings. However, it was the Impressionists at the end of the century who once again found an invaluable attribute in the flower for their processes.

Flowers in a Vase

Odilon Redon

Pastel, 54 × 39.5 cm

Private collection

Those used blobs of colour and chromatic variations in their tones according to the seasons. Monet thus observed water lilies, Les Nymphéas blancs (White Water Lilies) and poppies; Renoir, roses (Fleurs dans un vase (Flowers in a Vase)); and Van Gogh sunflowers… Gauguin, who worked with Van Gogh, in the “Atelier du Midi”, studied the same subject.

Flowers in a Vase

Auguste Renoir, c. 1866

Oil on canvas, 81.3 × 65.1 cm

Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris

At the beginning of the 20th century, flowers played a major role in Art Nouveau. The plant kingdom invaded furniture, decorative objects and even architecture. Furthermore, the Fauves used flowers in their paintings for their many colours. Thus, Henri Matisse showed flowers in big bunches, and he used flowers for their decorative aspect. In a similar approach, Picasso used flower motifs because of their curving lines. Bouquet de fleurs dans un vase gris (Bunch of Flowers in a Grey Jug).

Garden in Blossom

Claude Monet, about 1866

Oil on canvas, 65 × 54 cm

Musée d’Orsay, Paris