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William CurtisPlate 1838. Cycad1787
1787
About the Item
This piece would pair well with "Plate 1851. Cycad." by William Curtis which is also listed.
WILLIAM CURTIS.
The Botanical Magazine.
Engravings with original hand-color.
9.5” x 5.75” Unframed.
London, 1787.
The long rich story of The Botanical Magazine, which was launched by its founder, William Curtis in 1787, deserves a special place in the history of botanical illustration. Curtis, born in Hampshire England in 1746, showed signs even as a schoolboy of a compulsive interest in natural history that was to dominate his adult life. He trained as an apothecary, but had no inclination for the profession. While employed as a demonstrator of botanical plants at the Chelsea Physic Garden in London, he embarked on a folio intending to depict all of the plants growing within a ten-mile radius of London. This Flora was an ambitious but doomed enterprise.
In 1787 Curtis began the publication of The Botanical Magazine: or Flower Garden Displayed. This horticultural periodical was designed to popularize and encourage the cultivation of new and rare wild plants in English gardens. He hoped to recoup the financial losses he had suffered with the Flora. The magazine was a small format periodical, which was published at monthly intervals and sold by subscription. Each installment featured three carefully hand colored copper plate engravings along with accompanying text on the cultivation and origins of the plants. It was an instant success. Curtis always said that the Flora brought him praise but The Botanical Magazine brought him pudding.
The reputation of Curtis' magazine rests on the beauty and accuracy of the fine botanical illustrations. It became very important for introducing newly arrived and exotic species from around the world. The pursuit of new plants reached frenzy during the 19th century as discoveries were made around the world and expeditions were commissioned to gain new information about colonial treasures. It continued to thrive and play an important role throughout the 19th century. The illustrations were still hand colored up to 1948 when color printing was adopted. In 1984 it was renamed The Kew Magazine and continues to this day.
- Creator:William Curtis (1746 - 1799, American)
- Creation Year:1787
- Dimensions:Height: 15 in (38.1 cm)Width: 17 in (43.18 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:Clean, crisp image. Full margins. Beautiful hand-coloring. Triple matting. Custom hand-painted wooden frame. Archival framing.
- Gallery Location:Florham Park, NJ
- Reference Number:
William Curtis
The 18th century saw an intersection of science and art, especially where it came to botanicals. Artists who had formerly devoted their practice to unique oil paintings of flowers now engaged the media of illustration, as an interest in cataloging flora grew and subscription publications began to thrive. Scientists also crossed the divide, delving into etching, and curating artists and works for issues of botanical magazines. William Curtis was one such botanist. For 13 volumes, Curtis engaged the artistic expertise of dozens of botanical artists to illustrate published guides on plants, beginning in 1787. The hundreds of hand-etched, hand-colored plates are actually unattributed, meaning we don’t see a particular artists’ name or signature, though we know that William Curtis commissioned and curated them. These handmade prints are now treated as individual, collectible works in themselves.
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