| European Watercolors Gallery |
| Redouté Watercolors | |||
| Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759-1840) is unquestionably the best-known botanical illustrator of any era. Described both as the "Rembrandt" and the "Raphael" of Flowers by 19th-century writers, Redouté occupies a central position in the development of European botanical art. The decorative appeal of his original engravings has led to their modern reproduction, which in turn has popularized Redouté's work in a way unique among botanical artists. Yet no reproduction can capture the great and subtle beauty of his original watercolors, nor can any introductory paragraph fully describe his many achievements. Indeed, the importance of Redouté’s seminal botanical paintings is about to be recognized by a national exhibition, accompanied by a catalog written by experts, that will tour to such important museums as the Bruce in Greenwich, the Kimball in Fort Worth, and the Chrysler in Newport News, Virginia. The show will undoubtedly generate enormous interest, and it is long overdue. Redouté has long been known to the most important enthusiasts and collectors of botanical art, and his work greatly coveted. Yet because so many of his original watercolors were exclusively the province of queens and empresses -- squirreled away jealously in royal collections -- their magnificence is only now becoming known to a very wide audience. This show will cement the place of his work at the pinnacle of flower painting. Fourteen original watercolors from the Arader Galleries will be included in the show, and are among the most important works ever painted by Redouté. Pictured on the following pages, they represent an opportunity to acquire landmark works by one of the most famous flower painters in history -- works unrivalled by most of the largest public collections of botanical art in existence -- before the bullish effects of the nationwide show occur. Historically, Redouté's original work has been commissioned and collected almost exclusively by important royal women, the first being Marie Antoinette, followed by the Empress Josephine. Very few watercolors have made their way out of royal collections, and those included in this offer are extremely rare examples of his best work. It would be a great pleasure to see them become the centerpieces of your own collection. Redouté's work represents a uniquely harmonious blend of scientific precision and supremely delicate rendering. Working directly from the flowers, Redouté arranged his compositions to show the significant aspects of the flowers without sacrificing aesthetic value. Certain common themes run through the compositions. In the watercolors that served as models for his engraved series Les Roses, Les Liliacees, and Les Choix, the flowers are classical "portraits" which lack backgrounds or settings. The regal simplicity of the compositions allows the viewer to focus without distraction on the beauty and delicate complexity of the plants themselves. Redouté's small drawings, placed at the bottom of the main illustrations, record the anatomical features of each species so that each flower could be identified with precision and cultivated to perfection. Redouté’s bouquets, on the other hand, serve as demonstrations of his remarkable sensibility in arranging subtly harmonious compositions. All of his watercolors are equally beautiful in very different ways, each composition highlighting the exquisite detail, the delicate modulation of light and shadow, and the subtle yet vibrant colors that characterize Redouté's few surviving master works. These watercolors demonstrate the flawless and pristine French style of botanical art that Redouté pioneered and brought to a pinnacle of quality. Redouté had, as pupils or patrons, five queens and empresses of France, from Marie Antoinette to Josephine's successor, the Empress Marie-Louise. Despite many changes of regime in this turbulent epoch, he worked without interruption, eventually contributing to over fifty books on natural history and archeology. His original works constitute an important landmark of both botanical art and natural history, documenting flower species still in existence, as well as some that have disappeared. Redouté's original works are among the most significant and beautiful in the history of botanical art. They revolutionized the genre with a pictorial language characterized by disciplined and meticulously detailed scientific compositions, which did not compromise but rather heightened the delicate beauty of the subjects. The watercolors on vellum in the present selection represent an unprecedented opportunity to obtain original works that are among the most important and superb botanical paintings of the last five centuries. | |||
| Publication City: Paris Medium: Watercolors on vellum Date: circa 1800-38 | |||
| SELECTIONS FROM THIS WORK | |||
 Pierre-Joseph Redouté - Iris Squalens details |  Redouté - Iris sambucina (Bearded Iris) details |  Redouté - Amaryllis equestris (Barbados Lily) details |  Redouté - Bromella ananas (Cultivated Pineapple) details |  Redouté - Comméline douteuse details |  Redouté - Comméline rougeâtre details |  Redouté - Cyrtanthe à feuilles étroites details |  Redouté - Epidendre en coquille details |  Redouté - Iris à couleurs changeantes details |  Redouté - Iris à stigmates étroits details |  Redouté - Iris double-bulbe à fleurs violet-pâle details |  Redouté - Iris fétide details |  Redouté - Iris verdâtre details |  Redouté - Ixia à grande fleur details |  Redouté - Ixia jaune et brun details |  Redouté - Lachenale tricolore details |  Redouté - Lis de Chalcedoine details |  Redouté - Lis martagon details |  Redouté - Metrosyderos Lophanta details |  Redouté - Musa paradisiaca (Banana) details |  Redouté - Narcisse de Gouan details |  Redouté - Peonies, cyclamen and auriculas details |  Redouté - Peony details |  Redouté - Rosier details |  Redouté - Rosier details |  Redouté - Still Life with Roses and an Anemone details |  Redouté - Tulipa suaveolens details |  Redouté - Wild Roses details |
