Evening star., 1951-04-29
4 RI
Fine Exhibition
OF Flower Prints
At National
By Florence S. Berrymon

Fresh as an April day is the loan
exhibition of flower prints, orig
Iinal botanical drawings and color
plate books (125 items totaD from
the outstanding collection of Mrs.
Roy Arthur Hunt, of Pittsburgh,
which opened last Sunday at the
National Gallery of Art. and drew
Ia large number of visitors. The
exhibition has a range of five cen
|turies. with the major emphasis on
the great period Of botanical IL
Illustration in 18th century Eng
land and France. s
The earliest drawing in the
show is q delightful anonymous
18th century English watercolor
of a garden at Winchester. very
"free hand" in bright colors. The
earliest print is a page from the
German "Hortus Sanitatis" (149D
with a colored woodcut as a text
illustration. The complete book
is on view in a nearby case.
The publication of these hand
some early decorators manuals
and great botanical anthologies
was a costly process. The pub
Usher commissioned the best flow
er painter he could obtain to il
lustrate the subject, then a skill
full engraver to copy the painting,
and last a watercolorist to tint
the engraved plates. 1t is no Won
der that these books with their
treasure trove of original prints
are collectors items, and separate
plates eagerly sought for framing.
Mrs. Hunt owns not only complete
books in excellent condition, but
also many original paintings on
vellum from which the engravings
were made, numerous detached
plates, and unique items such as
the Winchester watercolor, an
other of the gardens at Sevenoaks
(home of the Sackvilles) in 1929,
and several others.
Early artists, such as the 18th
century French Jean Baptiste
Monnoyer, drew the flowers real
istically but looked upon them
primarily as decorations, it would
seem, judging from his gorgeous
arrangements in vases and urns,
and uninhibited combinations of
many kinds of blossoms. Incl
dentally, Monnoyer both drew and
engraved his arrangements. There
are a number of other artists rep
resented who had the same dec
orative approach.
Colored Engravings.
Besides the flower subjects,
there are a series of colored en-
cravings by Martin Engelbrecht,
18th century German, of people
gardening in very elaborate ap-
parel for such work, and several
complete views of formal gardens,
with people strolling along the
paths, one by 10th century Dutch
Jan CornelisZ, another of gardens
of the Vatican. a third engaging
watercolor of an English botanic
garden in Lambeth Marsh G787).
Later flower prints were more
scientific, being accurate from the
botanical standpoint as well as ex-
quisite from the esthetic. Typical
of this approach is the group of
paintings and engravings by 18th
century German Georg D. Ehret.
More impressive are the large
plates combining aquatint, and
line engraving printed in color and
finished by hand, from DR.. Rob-
ert Thornton's celebrated Temple
Of Flora" d" published in 1907, which
included plants natural habitat
as background. The habitat idea
is seen 'also in Edwin Whitefield's
engaging little Autographs in
which the flower is brilliantly COL
ored, and the background lightly
printed in black and white.
But for most of us laymen no