|
Les Roses was
published in thirty installments between 1817 and 1824 and enjoyed
immediate success. This particular set of Redouté¹s Les Roses, is
comprised of one-hundred sixty-nine images printed in two states. One of
only five such sets printed, and one of the first five, it is one of the
rarest and finest sets to surface in the last twenty years. The paper is a
perfect off-white, the intensity of the inking and the subtlety of the coloring all
contribute to engravings of unrivaled, breathtaking beauty.
Considered
to be a French artist, Redouté actually descended from a long line of
Belgian painters. Born in 1759, he set out at age thirteen, determined to
make a living as an itinerant painter and decorator.
When he was
twenty-three years old, he made his way to Paris where he sketched rare
plants at the Jardin du Roi. There he met and studied with Linnaean
botanist, Charles Louis L¹Héritier. Soon, he was taken under the personal
tutelage of Gerard van Spaëndonck, the Royal Professor of Painting at the
Muséum. He became L¹Héritier¹s and van Spaëndonck¹s star pupil.
Gerard van
Spaëndonck is recognized for developing the watercolor technique that
Redouté popularized. These two mentors
fostered Redouté¹s great talent. In 1786, Redouté spent a short period in
England where he was introduced to the stipple engraving technique,
employed primarily for
portraiture at that time.
Stipple engraving is a process of etching with dots rather than lines. It
is sublimely suited to convey the subtle tonal gradations of watercolors.
|
Redouté is credited with perfecting the stipple technique and applying it
to rendering his flower paintings. The dynamic realism he achieved
surpassed all artists who preceded him. On the eve of the Revolution,
Redouté returned to Paris and was named to the position of Draughtsman to
the Cabinet of Marie Antoinette. Amazingly, he not only survived the
Revolution, but attracted the patronage of Josephine Bonaparte, in a
seamless transition from the royal court to the French Republic.
This
event was paramount to Redouté¹s success because Josephine possessed a
passionate interest in flower cultivation and art. In 1798, Josephine
acquired a substantial estate, Malmaison, where she created botanical
gardens of the rarest and most beautiful plants obtainable. Roses were of
particular interest to Josephine and she intended to grow all known
varieties there. Redouté¹s Les Roses contains many roses from Malmaison,
as well as from other significant gardens of the time.
Price range: $1,200 - $18,000
|
