An introduction to Franz Bauer (1758 - 1840) and Ferdinand Bauer (1760 - 1826)
Sir Joseph Banks spotted Franz Bauer's skills and arranged for him to become employed as "botanick Painter to his Majesty" and to draw all the new flowering plants at Kew. He was probably the first botanical artist to record stages in a life cycle of certain plants with the aid of a microscope.
Ferdinand Bauer is best known for his role as botanical artist on an expedition to explore and record the coastline of Australia.
However, neither have been widely known due to most of their botanical illustrations and paintings forming part of very rare and expensive volumes or unavailable to view in the archives of museums or private collections.
This site introduces the two artists and will be of interest to all botanical artists and all those who enjoy botanical art and natural history. It provides links to their biographies, major projects and achievements in botanical illustration and places and books where you can see their drawings.
Illustration: Banksia coccinea, Plate 3 from Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae (Source Wikiedmedia)
You can find out about...
just click a link to go straight to a topic
- Early Life of the Bauer Brothers in Austria
- Franz (Francis) Bauer (1758-1840)
- Ferdinand Bauer (1760-1826)
- Flora Graeca - a survey by John Sibthorp and Ferdinand Bauer
- Botanical projects of the Bauer Brothers
- Oxford University Library - Flora Graeca
- Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae
- Botanical Artists - Gardens & Herbals
- Botanical Artists - Explorers
- Resources for Botanical Artists
- Comments and Feedback
Early Life of the Bauer Brothers in Austria
The beginnings of a life in botanical art
from the wikipedia articles
Born in Feldsberg (now Valtice, Czech Republic, Franz and Ferdinand Bauer were the sons of Lucas Bauer, (? 1761), court painter to the Prince of Liechtenstein, and brother of the painters Josef Bauer.
After Lucas Bauer's death, his wife, Therese continued to give her three sons lessons in art and illustration. Josef succeeded his father as court painter and eventually became keeper of the gallery in Vienna.
Francis and Ferdinand acquired their first experience of botanical illustration with the arrival of Father Norbert Boccius, Abbot of Feldsberg, in 1763, and produced over 2000 watercolour drawings of plant specimens under his guidance. Their botanical drawings made in Feldsburg were subsequently published as part of the Codex Liechstenstein.
Their education continued in Vienna under the botanist and artist Baron Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin who was the Professor of Botany and Chemistry at the University of Vienna and Director of the Botanical Gardens. He produced many fine illustrated books. The brothers were introduced to the field of microscopy and learned how it could be used to record fine detail. Under the guidance of Baron von Jacquin, the two perfected their skills as botanical illustrators and became familiar with diverse plants and fine-tuned their eyes to exacting observation. This developed their extraordinary attention to detail which became their hallmark.
Botanical gardens
- Faculty Centre of Biodiversity (former Institute of Botany and Botanical Garden), University Vienna
- Homepage of the Faculty Center Biodiversity, former Institute of Botany and Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna, A-1030 Vienna, Austria
In 1754 Empress Maria Theresia founded the "Hortus Botanicus Vindobonensis". The renowned botanist NIKOLAUS VON JACQUIN became one of the first directors of this botanical garden. He not only taught botany, but also chemistry and other related disciplines. His son, JOSEPH VON JACQUIN, followed him on the professoral chair and also as director of the Botanical Garden. - Botanical Garden, University Vienna
- Botanischer Garten der Universit%uFFFDt Wien
A-1030 Wien, Rennweg 14
www.botanik.univie.ac.at/hbv/
In 1754 Archduchess (Empress) Maria Theresia of Austria founded a Pharmaceutical Garden in baroque style for the Medical Faculty of Vienna University. Already at its present location in Vienna's third district, this formed the basis for today's Botanical Garden attached to the Faculty Center (Institute of) Botany at the Faculty of Life Sciences.
After several changes, the Botanical Garden now presents a synthesis between a 19th century landscape garden and a display of plants in systematic and plant-geographical arrangement.
Franz (Francis) Bauer (1758-1840)
botanical illustrator and man of science
Portrait of Franz (Francis) Bauer c.1800
About Franz (Francis) Andreas Bauer (1758-1840)
Botanik Painter to his Majesty
Franz's initial involvement with botanical art was through the illustration of plants for the Professor of botany and director of the botanic garden of the University of Vienna. Franz illustrated works by the Baron Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin and his son Baron Joseph Franz von Jacquin at the Schönbrunn Imperial Gardens.
In 1788 he travelled to England and settled at Kew where he was to remain for the rest of his life. In England he was known by the anglicised version of his name Francis.
Sir Joseph Banks employed Franz as a botanical artist at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. He was known by the title 'Botanick Painter to His Majesty' and was paid an income of £300. The drawings he made while at Kew have much scientific value and at the same time are also a historic record of the development of Kew Gardens at a time when it was expanding rapidly.
For 40 years, Bauer illustrated the newly discovered plants from around the world that were introduced to England via Kew, where they were grown and studied for the first time in a scientific manner.
- He provided illustrations for a number of botanical books, including his 1818 work Strelitzia depicta: or coloured figures of the known species of the genus Strelitzia from the drawings in the Banksian Library'.
- He was probably the first artist to draw detailed plant dissections for recording purposes at Kew. He even drew greatly magnified pollen specimens with remarkable detail and accuracy, despite the optical limitations of the microscopes of his time. By the early nineteenth century, plant anatomy was seen as an important tool for identification of different species. It is believed that Bauer may have used the newly developed camera lucida, to help him make such accurate drawings.
Bauer was elected a Fellow of the Linnaean Society in 1804 and additionally became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1821.
He died at Kew in December 1840 and was buried locally in Kew Parish Church - St Anne's on Kew Green.
(Based on the biography detailed by the Royal Botanical Gardens and the Natural History Museum)
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: History and Heritage: People: Artists: Franz (Francis) Andreas Bauer
- Francis, as Franz became known in England, received an annual income of £300 from Banks, and the title 'Botanick Painter to His Majesty'. By 1790 Bauer was settled in Kew indulging in detailed paintings and drawings often at microscopic level, and taking great care to hand colour lithographic reproductions of his work. During his time at Kew Franz taught Queen Charlotte, Princess Elizabeth and William Hooker the art of illustration, and frequently entertained friends and botanists at his home. His legacy is to be found in such sumptuous publications as Delineations of Exotick Plants (1796-1803), his collaboration with John Lindley Illustrations of Orchidaceous Plants (1830-38), and his delicate lithographs in Strelitzia Depicta (1818).
- Natural History Museum - Franz (Francis) Andreas Bauer (1758-1840)
- Biography of Franz (Francis) Bauer
- Orchids.co.in. - Franz Bauer
- This biography focuses in particular on Bauer's place in the annals of orchidology.
- Franz Bauer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- References
* Stewart, Joyce and William T. Stearn. The orchid paintings of Franz Bauer. Timber Press,. Portland, Or. 1993
* Reinikka, Merle A. A History of the Orchid. Timber Press,. Portland, Or. 1995 - A&A | Monument to Francis Bauer
- Monument to Francis Baeur
Kew Parish Church, Surrey, England
1840
Sculptor: Westmacott, Richard II
Bauer is buried next to Zoffany and Gainsborough
Franz Bauer's work and publications
* Delineations of Exotick Plants cultivated in the Royal Garden at Kew. Drawn and coloured and the Botanical characters displayed according to the Linnean System by Francis Bauer. Published by William Aiton, d.c. (Preface by Sir Joseph Banks.) 1796-83
* The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants, illustrated by drawings on stone from the sketches of Francis Bauerby John Lindley. London, Ridgways and Treuttel, Wurtz, 1830-1838.
* Genera filicum; or Illustrations of the ferns, and other allied genera; from the original coloured drawings of the late Francis Bauer; with additions and descriptive letterpress, by Sir William Jackson Hooker. London, H. G. Bohn, 1842.
- botanicus - Hortus Kewensis, or, A catalogue of the plants cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew
- Hortus Kewensis by William Aiton was a 1789 catalogue of all the plant species then in cultivation at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, which constituted the vast majority of plant species in cultivation in all of England.
It included information on the country of origin, who introduced the plant into English cultivation, and when. It is therefore now one of the most important sources of information on history of horticulture in England.
It also includes botanical illustrations by Francis Bauer - University of London - Rsearch Library Services - Archives
- search "Franz Bauer" - produces
Title Franz Bauer drawings
Held at Senate House Library, University of London
Reference MS1015
Date c1788-c1829 - An annotated catalogue of the printed illustrations by Franz Bauer (1758-1840) - Edinburgh University Press
- ABSTRACT: A short biography of Franz Bauer (1758-1840) is given, who was a prolific illustrator in the fields of botany, zoology, human anatomy and pathology. His commissions came mainly from Norbert Boccius, Nikolaus Joseph Jacquin, Sir Joseph Banks and Sir Everard Home. Comparatively late in life Franz Bauer became a scientist in his own right, but published little. An annotated list of the printed illustrations by Franz Bauer is included as well as a synopsis correlating several of them with Home's Lectures on comparative anatomy.
Illustrations of ferns from the original coloured drawings of Francis Bauer
Images of Franz (Francis) Bauer
- Natural History Museum - Strelitzia reginae
- Strelitzia reginae, c.1820.
Watercolour on paper, 527 x 357 mm.
At the end of the eighteenth century Franz Bauer had an unique opportunity to draw exotic flowers that had just been brought to England from around the world.
Carefully nurtured at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in England these plants created great scientific interest and much curiosity from botanists. Fabulous and colourful plants such as the Golden Bird of Paradise, Strelitizia reginae stimulated particular excitement, and was drawn in exquisite detail by Franz Bauer. - Plate 11 from British Orchids - Plants, Flowering Plants at The Natural History Museum, London
- Plate 11 from British Orchids. Watercolour from British Orchids (1792-1817), by Franz Andreas Bauer (1758-1840). Held in the Botany Library at the Natural History Museum, London.. Picture, Image, Photo, Photograph, The Natural History Museum, London
BOOKS: About Franz (Francis) Bauer and his work
The Orchid Paintings of Franz Bauer
Franz Bauer was born in Austria in 1758, but lived and worked for 50 years at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where he was employed by Sir Joseph Banks as resident draughtsman. A contemporary of Redoute, he is considered by many experts to be the greatest of all botanical artists. This book contains almost all Bauer's completed orchid paintings, including many enlargements of flowers. Each photograph is presented with a commentary by Joyce Stewart on the history and cultivation of the plant and a biography of Franz Bauer is included by William T. Stearn.
Amazon Price: (as of 12/07/2009) 
The Art of Botanical Illustration
First published in 1950, this required work on the subject was probably the first attempt to present a general survey of the development of botanical illustration from the crude scratchings of paleohthic man down to the highly scientific work of the day. Between the purely botanic drawing and the purely artistic painting lies a vast body of drawings and paintings with a combined scientific and aesthetic appeal, and it is this wide range of illustration that Wilfred Blunt explored and recorded. The contribution of a copious and international talent to botanical illustration is here covered in greater depth than ever before; behind the world famous names - Ehret, Redoute, Thornton and the Temple of Flora, and John Ruskin - to name a few, there lies a wealth of splendid illustrators with which the general public is largely unacquainted, all here given their rightful place. Professor Steam, who was closely involved with the original publication, has revised this classic work, bringing the chapter on 20th century botanical illustration up to date, and including a great number of coloured illustrations.
This book is frequently references in mongraphs about Francis Bauer
Amazon Price: (as of 12/07/2009)
Ferdinand Bauer (1760-1826)
botanical illustrator and explorer
Ferdinand Bauer (1760-1826) - biography
As a young man, Ferdinand travelled to England, from where he accompanied John Sibthorpe, a botanist and professor from Oxford University, to Greece in 1784. This resulted in the publication of the now famous Flora Graeca (1806), which contains the magnificent artworks Bauer created to represent the Greek flora.
Bauer subsequently travelled to Australia on the ship HMS Investigator as botanical draughtsman to Sir Joseph Banks' botanist, Robert Brown (1773-1858) - after being recommended by Joseph Banks.
HMS Investigator was commanded by Captain Matthew Flinders, and it was on this famous voyage of exploration and scientific discovery that Australia was circumnavigated and charted in detail for the first time.
Throughout the voyage, Bauer sketched the plants and animals that were seen and collected. He made 700 drawings of plants and animals by July 1802, and about 12 months later he speaks of having completed nearly 600 more. His coloured artworks revealed the wonders of the Australian flora and fauna to European eyes for the first time. Some of the paintings were published as engravings in the 1813 work, Illustrationes Flora Novae Hollandiae. This was the first detailed account of the natural history of the Australian continent. Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae which was not a financial success, partly because the artist was so conscientious that he endeavoured to do all the work himself including the colouring of the plates.
When Flinders set sail for Britain, Bauer remained in Sydney and took part in expeditions in New South Wales and to Norfolk Island.
He returned to Austria in August 1814 but continued to do much work for English publications including Lambert's Pinus and Lindley's Digitalis, etc.
He left the Australian watercolours in England as the property of the Admiralty. Today, these illustrations are of immense botanical and historical interest, particularly in Europe and Australia.
Ferdinand Bauer died on 17 March 1826.
The name of Bauer has been perpetuated in several Australian plants, in specific epithets and the genus Bauera, and Cape Bauer on the Australian coast was named after Ferdinand by Flinders.
Ferdinand Bauer is denoted by the author abbreviation F.L.Bauer when citing a botanical name.
Based on the biographies detailed by the Natural History Museum, the Biodiversity Heritage Library and Wikipedia
- Biodiversity Heritage Library - Bauer, Ferdinand, (1760 - 1826)
- Bemerkungen uber die flora der Sudseeinseln /von Stephan Endlicher.
Publication info: [Wien (Vienna) : Annalen des Wiener Museums der Naturgeschichte, 1836 or 1841?]
Historia naturalis palmarum :opus tripartium / Carol. Frid. Phil. de Martius.
Publication info: Lipsiae: T.O. Weigel, [1823-50]
Provdies a biography of Ferdinand Bauer - Natural History Museum - Ferdinand Bauer
- The Ferdinand Bauer Drawings Collection
Bauer's existing drawings are located in two major collections. Most of his sketches are held by the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna. Many of their finished watercolour counterparts are housed in the Library of the Natural History Museum in London. It is hoped that using digital technology it may be possible to re-unite the divided art work as one virtual collection.
The collection at the Natural History Museum has been photographed, conserved and remounted for preservation, display and handling purposes during the 1980s. It is accompanied by some pencil sketches that were made on Norfolk Island during 1804-1805.
A book has also recently been published about Ferdinand Bauer and the drawings held at the Natural History Museum. - Ferdinand Bauer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Wikipedia - Ferdinand Lucas Bauer (20 January 1760 - 17 March 1826) was an Austrian botanical illustrator
- Dictionary of Australian Biography Ba
- Project Gutenberg Australia
DICTIONARY OF AUSTRALIAN BIOGRAPHY - Rocky Road: Ferdinand Bauer
- When the Royal Navy officer Matthew Flinders sailed the Investigator to Australia at the turn of the 19th century, he took with him not only 80 sailors, but also a civilian staff of naturalists and artists. Among them was the remarkably talented illustrator, Ferdinand Bauer.
About the work of Ferdinand Bauer
- botanicus - Ferdinand Bauer
- Ferdinand Bauer and his brother, Franz, were matchless botanical illustrators. "Their work was the equal of Redouté, and even surpassed him in their attention to detail. They came nearer to perfection in the field of [botanical illustration] than any artist before or since." (7:27).
Nevertheless, their accomplishments remain relatively unknown. Why so? Their published works are in rare and expensive volumes, or lie in seldom-consulted technical books. Also, their stunning drawings are tucked away in museums-seldom shown to the public at large (7). Ferdinand's drawings of Australia are in the British Museum, as are his original sketches for Lambert's Genus pinus. The original watercolor drawings for Sibthrop and Smith's Flora Graeca are housed at Oxford University. - In Honour of Ferdinand Bauer by Florence Dwight (2001)
- Australian Plants online. Association of Societies for Growing Australian Plants.
Ferdinand Bauer. after whom the genus Bauera was named, was born in 1760 into an age of great geographical and botanical exploration. He was to become pre-eminent among botanical illustrators of every age. - Historical records of Australian Science
- a review of two books about Bauer and his work
- Biodiversity Heritage Library - Ferdinand Bauer
- Bauer, Ferdinand,
(1760 - 1826) - PACSOA - Ferdinand Bauer 1760-1826
- Palm and Cyclas Society - summary re Ferdinand Bauer
Images of the work of Ferdinand Bauer
- State Library of Victoria - Ferdinand Bauer
- 11 items in the Picture Catalogue
- Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae - Wikimedia Commons
- Images from Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae in Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae is a 19th century book - Ferdinand Bauer's field drawings of endemic Western Australian plants made at King George Sound and Lucky Bay, December 1801 - January 1802.
- A further forty-four field drawings of western Australian endemic plants made by Ferdinand Bauer, natural history artist on Flinders's Investigator voyage (1801-1803), are published in Part II as a subsequent paper to Part I. In this and the previous paper, surviving drawings made at King George Sound and Lucky Bay (December 1801- January 1802) are identified and discussed.
- Ferdinand Lucas Bauer (1760 - 1826)
- Fifty-two drawings of animals observed in Australia between 1801 and 1803 during the voyage of HMS Investigator, under the command of Captain Matthew Flinders
- Natural History Museum - Ferdinand Bauer - Banksia
- Ferdinand Lucas Bauer (1760-1826)
Banksia speciosa R.Brown (Showy or Ricrac banksia), c.1811.
Watercolour on paper, 524 x 356 mm.
Flora Graeca - a survey by John Sibthorp and Ferdinand Bauer
text drawn from wikipedia article
Flora Graeca was a publication of the plants of Greece in the late eighteenth century, resulting from a survey by John Sibthorp and Ferdinand Bauer. The botanical descriptions and illustrations were to become highly valued by the english audience, the finely crafted and illustrated work was of both scientific and horticultural interest.
Sibthorp met the botanical illustrator Bauer in Vienna, where he had made a voyage to study a copy of Dioscorides early botanical work. This was the first part of a journey, to identify medicinal plants used in Greece; Bauer was to join the expedition as the illustrator. They were to record and collect a large number of novel specimens, their publication introduced these to an english audience. From March 1786 to December 1787 they surveyed the plants and animals of the eastern mediterranean, Sibthorp collecting and describing, Bauer making dried specimens and producing colour coded sketches. Bauers work, including around a thousand intricate and annotated sketches, is now regarded as one of the finest examples of botanical illustration.
Sibthorp's volumes were to become a botanical publication, the intention to produce a herbal or medical volume was transformed into a scientific survey. An accompanying volume, Fauna Graeca, and other planned works on the region, was not realised.
Sibthorp assembled the descriptions and plates, his death in 1796 included an endowment to see the book published. The task of preparing the works was undertaken by James Edward Smith, who issued the two volumes of the Prodromus in 1806 and 1813, and six volumes as Flora Graeca Sibthorpiana between 1806 and 1828. The seventh appeared in 1830, after Smith's death, and the remaining three were produced by John Lindley between 1833 and 1840.
Each volume contained hundred plates, except the last, and these were engraved By Sowerby. Only 30 copies of this set were issued, another 50 complete sets were reissued in 1845 by Bohn. The cost in 1830 was 620 pounds. The scarcity of the early first editions led to doubt of their existence, the rare book is at the higher end of trade. The inherent value has led the Oxford University Library Services to make available a digital scan of the complete set.
The publication was issued with tables and indices of the scientific name, the common name in Greek was in this concordance. It was during a period of increasing interest in horticulture and highly desired exotic species were described, many would become perennials of the english flower garden.
The title or cover page to the John Sibthorp's Flora Graeca.
BOOKS: About Ferdinand Bauer
books on Amazon
Ferdinand Bauer: The Nature of Discovery (Natural History Museum)
Many of the scientifically accurate and artistically beautiful illustrations of fauna and flora by Ferdinand Bauer have lain unseen in the Natural History Museum of London. Now these works of art are reproduced in this unique monograph of the artist'
Amazon Price: (as of 12/07/2009)
The Flora Graeca Story: Sibthorp, Bauer, and Hawkins in the Levant
This is the first scholarly treatise to tell the remarkable story behind the making of the Flora Graeca, a monumental collection of drawings and descriptions of plants in mainland Greece and the Balkan Peninsula. Originally described by Diskorides in the sixth century, the flora and fauna of
the Balkan Peninsula were neglected until the gentlemen botanists-naturalists John Sibthorpe and John Hawkins, with the help of illustrator Ferdinand Bauer, travelled the region and produced a class of paintings superior to anything of their kind in existence then. These were to become one of the
most valuable treasures of the University of Oxford. Based on the original diaries, letters, and specimen, this fine work is illustrated with prints from the original illustrations which are still housed at the Department of Plant Sciences at Oxford.
Amazon Price: $499.00 (as of 12/07/2009)
Voyages of Discovery: A Visual Celebration of Ten of the Greatest Natural History Expeditions
Voyages of Discovery is a mesmerizing visual survey of the most significant discoveries in the history of natural science exploration. Superb artwork and photographs spanning three centuries document landmark advances made in the field and bring to life the fascinating stories of the explorers, naturalists, artists and photographers.
The book is fully illustrated in color with informative text and captions. Highlights include:
* Sir Hans Sloane's 1687 voyage to Jamaica, where he collected and recorded plant specimens, including cocoa, which are preserved to this day
* Maria Sybilla Merian's personal journey to Surinam in 1699, where in brilliant detail she recorded butterflies and exotic insects
* Charles Darwin's fateful trip to the Galapagos Islands, on which he cataloged finches and fossils
* William Bartram's fanciful documentation of North American wildlife
* Matthew Flinders' mapping of Australia, where he was accompanied by Ferdinand Bauer, perhaps the greatest of all natural science artists.
The Natural History Museum in London has the world's most comprehensive collection of natural science specimens and artworks. Voyages of Discovery offers readers a privileged opportunity to explore that collection.
Amazon Price: $27.02 (as of 12/07/2009)
The Magnificent Flora Graeca: How the Mediterranean Came to the English Garden
The publishing of the Flora Graeca was a landmark event in 1830. Only 25 copies were published, due to the book's size of 10 double folio volumes and its numerous illustrations, and it cost over £620, a colossal sum at the time.
The Flora Graeca brought together beautiful renderings of the fruits of the travels of British scientist John Sibthorp, who made multiple trips to the eastern Mediterranean in the early nineteenth century to collect a rich array of exotic floral specimens. Now The Magnificent Flora Graeca chronicles Sibthorp's immense undertaking, including brilliant selections from his groundbreaking volume.
The story of the expeditions of Sibthorp and his renowned illustrator Ferdinand Bauer is a tale replete with larger-than-life characters and adventures on land and sea. Harris profiles the lives of Sibthorp, Bauer, and other leading characters, and explores the Flora Graeca's rich cultural and scientific legacy. Sibthorp's pioneering adventures unearthed floral specimens previously unknown to science, as he collected the originals of such popular garden flowers as the Crocus flavus ssp. flavus, the parent of the Golden Yellow; and Cyprus's Cyclamen persicum, the parent of the widely grown garden cyclamens species.
This new volume, drawn from photographs of Sibthorp's remarkably well-preserved specimens and luminous reproductions of the original watercolors and engravings by Bauer, features more images from the Flora Graeca than have ever been published since its first printing.
The Magnificent Flora Graeca is an essential addition to the bookshelf for the plant lover or anyone curious about the natural history behind their beloved garden retreats.
Amazon Price: $47.60 (as of 12/07/2009)
Botanical projects of the Bauer Brothers
BOOKS: featuring the work of the Bauer Brothers
books on Amazon
Garden for Eternity: The Codex Liechtenstein
The fourteen volume Liber Regni Vegetabilis (Book of the Plant Kingdom) was created in the 18th century, and quite unknown until now, contains naturalistic illustrations of some 3,100 different plant species from all over the world, depicted in captivating beauty and exceptional detail.
This is truly a work of superlatives: for more than 30 years several highly qualified specialists worked together to capture in art the native plants of Lower Austria and Moravia, the cultivated plants of field and garden, and above all the short-lived flowering splendour of the greenhouses of Vienna and surrounding region.
More than half of the watercolour paintings is the work of the brothers Franz and Ferdinand Bauer, who are amongst the most famous botanical illustrators of all time. Indeed, Ferdinand Bauer has been described, with justification, as the `Leonardo of natural history illustration'. We can appreciate how the Bauer brothers used codes to specify the colours to illustrate the plants, and with what refinement they produced their watercolour paintings.
Amazon Price: (as of 12/07/2009)
Oxford University Library - Flora Graeca
- Oxford Digital Library
- Oxford Digital Library: You can view the e-book produced by Oxford University Press - Flora Graeca
Sibthorp and Smith's Flora Graeca, illustrated by Ferdinand Bauer and often described as 'Oxford's finest botanical treasure', is considered the most splendid and expensive Flora ever produced. The collections include not only the printed volumes but also the original hand-coloured drawings from which the printed engravings were made, the original botanical specimens they illustrate, unpublished drawings of the Fauna Graeca and a unique series of topographical Mediterranean Scenes, also never published. Accompanying these are diaries and notebooks from the two expeditions to the Levant in which Sibthorp set out to discover the wild plants described by Dioscorides in c.AD 60- and in doing so laid the foundations for modern botanical exploration. - Information Services in Bio- & Environmental Sciences - Flora Graeca in the 21st century
- Flora Graeca in the 21st century
Digitising the Flora Graeca
The complete series of printed volumes, original drawings and the accompanying unpublished Fauna Graeca and Mediterranean Scenes have now been digitised for the Oxford Digital Library.
The links below give access to preview versions of all the scans; a fully searchable interface with zooming facilities is in preparation. Selected images are currently available within the Oxford Digital Library
Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae
article from Wikipedia
Illustrationes florae Novae Hollandiae is an 1813 publication by the botanical illustrator Ferdinand Bauer.
Bauer was scientific illustrator on board the Investigator during Matthew Flinders' exploration of Australia, and as such he worked closely with the expedition's naturalist, Robert Brown. When these men returned to England in 1805, they brought with them thousands of specimens and hundreds of sketches. Initially, they planned to publish a large-scale work, to be entitled Illustrationes florae Novae Hollandiae, but this venture failed, and Brown decided to publish his scientific descriptions separately, in Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, and later his own Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen. Bauer then undertook to publish a lesser work himself, with Brown providing text limited to a brief preface and some captioning.
Unusually, Bauer not only did all the illustrations, but also engraved the printing plants and hand-coloured the illustrations. It was exceedingly unusual for a single artist to perform all three roles; it is said that Bauer did the engraving himself because he could not find a good engraver, and previous works of his were disappointing because of incompetent engraving.
Three issues of Illustrationes florae Novae Hollandiae were published, all in 1813. These three issues totalled fifteen plates, and a sixteenth was bound into some copies. Publication then ceased, probably because the venture was a financial failure. It is estimated that less than fifty copies of the work were sold, and some of these were uncoloured. It is therefore now an extremely rare book. In 1997, a copy was sold at Christie's for $57,000.
Image:Banksia coccinea (Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae plate 3).jpg|Plate III: Banksia coccinea
Illustrationes florae Novae Hollandiae - original text
wikisource
- Illustrationes florae Novae Hollandiae - Wikisource
- Ferdinand Bauer
Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae
1806-1813
BOOKS: Referencing the work of the Bauer Brothers
books by Dr Shirley Sherwood
Treasures of Botanical Art: Icons from the Shirley Sherwood and Kew Collections
This book marks the inaugural exhibition of the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew, which opens in April 2008.
Extensively illustrated and elegantly designed, this book will feature some 200 paintings and drawings from both the Kew and Shirley Sherwood collections, reflecting the richness of botanical art as a whole, providing an overview of the most significant artists from the 1600s through to contemporary artists, and demonstrating the enduring importance of botanical illustration.
The Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew Gardens is the first public gallery in the world dedicated to botanical art and exhibits precious works of art from the collections of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Dr Shirley Sherwood, many of which have never been on public display before.
Amazon Price: $32.67 (as of 12/07/2009)
New Flowering: 1000 Years of Botanical Art
This volume places magnificent old plant portraits next to masterful new drawings and paintings.
This book was produced to accompany a major exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Material comes from the Golden Age of Botanical art in the 18th century and 15th and 17th century herbals and painted flowers bordering Flemish Book of Hours illuminated manuscripts. The intrepid artist-traveler recurs as a theme with contributions including those made by Ferdinand Bauer (1760-1826) on trips to the Levant and Australia.
Illustrations are in full and in close-ups revealing subtleties of anatomy, color, shape and scientific information. The book contains a discussion about the requirements for the scientific elements of botanical illustration and an essay on printing techniques. One of two prefaces has been written by Prince Charles.
Amazon Price: $29.16 (as of 12/07/2009)
Botanical Artists - Gardens & Herbals
-
A History of Botanical Art - Resources for Botanical Art Lovers
-
This site shares information about the history of botanical art and illustration - leading botanical artists of the past, collections - in museums and online, exhibitions, books and book reviews and other resources for those interested in the history...
-
Elizabeth Blackwell - Resources for Botanical Art Lovers
-
Elizabeth Blackwell was the first British woman to produce a herbal and the first woman to engrave as well as draw plants. She compiled and published her hand drawn, engraved and coloured "A Curious Herbal" in 1735 in order to raise funds to free her...
-
Basilius Besler - Resources for Botanical Art Lovers
-
Basilius Besler was in charge of a major project which changed botanical art and the course of its future development. Find about Basilius Besler, the garden at Eichstätt and learn how you can visit that garden today. This site includes links to biog...
-
Pierre Redoute - Resources for Botanical Art Lovers
-
Many people, like me, will have first become interested in botanical art because of the paintings of roses, lilies and other flowers produced by Pierre Redoute. He is one of the most talented botanical artists ever known. Redoute was fortunate to be...
Botanical Artists - Explorers
-
Sydney Parkinson - Resources for Botanical Art Lovers
-
Sydney Parkinson was one of the botanical artists on Captain Cook's journey's on the Endeavour. He was the first botanical artist to draw and paint plants collected on the exploratory voyages and he was the first artist to set foot on Australian soil...
-
Maria Sibylla Merian - Resources for Botanical Art Lovers
-
Maria Sibylla Merian was a Naturalist and Botanical Illustrator and is rated as being one of the greatest ever botanical artists. This site will be of interest to all botanical artists and all those who enjoy botanical art and natural history. This...
-
Margaret Mee - Resources for Botanical Art Lovers
-
Margaret Mee was both a botanical artist and a conservationist. In 1952, age 41 she left England to go and live in the Amazon where she studied and painted the plants and flowers of the Amazon rainforest. This site introduces Margaret Mee and will b...
Resources for Botanical Artists
-
Botanical Art - Resources for Artists
-
This site shares information about botanical art - societies, collections, books and other resources which support the development of botanical art. It also links to leading botanical artists in the past and present. Its subject matter will interest...
-
Botanical Art - Art Book Reviews for Artists
-
Find botanical art boks. Read my book reviews of botanical art, first published on my blog Making A Mark plus reviews by other people (in due course). I've also included reviews of books by or about famous artists who have been interested in the str...
Making A Mark
Katherine Tyrrell's blogging portfolio about: - Making a mark creating drawings with pastels, pencils and pen and ink - Art projects - Notable Artists - Developing art careers - Art blogs and blogging about art - Reviews of art books and exhibitions - Inf
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byComments and Feedback
comments are welcome - but please do not spam
Anybody can comment BUT please note that:
* All comments are moderated before publication
* All html is stripped out of comments. Spam is not published.
* All suggestions about the inclusion of websites will be reviewed but will only be published if the website is added. (This is to avoid spam)
* Please do not ask me to rate your lens (see Squidoo FAQs). However I do check out your lenses if you comment.
Who is makingamark?
-
Who is Making A Mark?
-
I'm an artist with a very wide range of interests who enjoys learning about art, making art and sharing information about art. I've combined all my information sites with sections of my other websites and blogs to highlight my main interests and acti...
and finally......
by makingamark
Explore related pages
Botanical Art - Resources for Artists- This site shares information about botanical art - societies, collections, books...
A History of Botanical Art - Resources for Botanical Art Lovers- This site shares information about the history of botanical art and illustration...
Pierre Redoute - Resources for Botanical Art Lovers- Many people, like me, will have first become interested in botanical art because...
- Pierre Redoute - Resources for Botanical Art Lovers
- Many people, like me, will have first become interested in botanical art because...
Basilius Besler - Resources for Botanical Art Lovers- Basilius Besler was in charge of a major project which changed botanical art and...
Maria Sibylla Merian - Resources for Botanical Art Lovers- Maria Sibylla Merian was a Naturalist and Botanical Illustrator and is rated as...
.jpg){kind=link}