From the imperial French gardens to your home, this Redouté Choix 1835, Pl. 136, Cadia Purpurea Tree; pink promises to elevate and refine any space.
Drawn by Pierre-Joseph Redouté from botanical specimens in the French royal gardens, this delicate flower is hand color and stipple engraved on antique paper measuring 12 1/2” × 9 1/4”. Elevate your environment with a flower from the empress’s garden!
About Choix des plus belles Fleurs – 1835 Edition
First published in 1827 and subsequently in 1835, Redouté’s Choix des plus belles fleurs et des plus beaux fruits, or Choice of the most beautiful flowers and most beautiful fruits contains 144 plates depicting the most attractive botanicals he had encountered throughout his long-lasting career as a royal flower painter. Many of the plants were rendered from fruits and flowers cultivated within the French imperial gardens and other notable botanical collections. The plates are printed in color through a method called stipple engraving with the finishing touches of color applied by hand. Stipple engraving is different from line engraving in that the imagery is made up of a series of dots rather than a continuous line. As a result, the print has a soft delineation of form that is particularly well suited to the delicate subject matter.
The 1835 edition can be visually distinguished from the 1827 edition through the presence of a plate number after Redouté’s name in the bottom left margin of the print.
About Pierre-Joseph Redouté
Recognized as the royal designer and painter for three successive French Empresses, Marie-Antoinette, Josephine Bonaparte, and Marie-Amelie, Belgian artist Pierre-Joseph Redouté etched his name into the history of botanical art through his magnificent floral folios. Three of his major works, Les Liliacées, Les Roses, and Choix des plus belles fleurs, were produced under royal patronage and depict plants from the French imperial gardens. His botanical prints, rendered through the innovative technique of stipple engraving, received a fervent welcome and were praised for their soft modulation of form and delicate coloring.
Despite the political tumult that characterizes turn-of-the-century France, from the overthrow of the Bourbon empire, the reign of Napoleon, and the July Revolution of 1830, Redouté continued to methodically produce beautifully serene folios of flowers in stark contrast to his violent historical backdrop. His work was highly respected in his time and continues to be prized today.
For more information about Redouté Choix 1835, Pl. 136, Cadia Purpurea Tree; pink, email us at [email protected] or check out our articles Plant Mutations in the Botanical Prints of Pierre-Joseph Redouté, The Historical Significance of Botanical Illustration, and The Interrelation between Natural History Art and Porcelain Ornamentation.
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