Maria Sibylla Merian

Common or Spectacled Caiman and South American or False Coral Snake

1705

DR. ROBERT JOHN THORNTON (c1765 – 1832). The Temple of Flora. London, 1798-1810. Painted by Reinagle, Henderson, Pether, et. al. Engraved by Ward, Caldwall, Earlom, et. al. A...

Sebastian Munster (1488-1552) Cosmographia Basel, 1579 ca Woodcut. Later Hand-Color. Munster's Cosmographia was one of the most influential wo...

DR. ROBERT JOHN THORNTON (c1765 – 1832). The Temple of Flora. London, 1798-1810. Painted by Reinagle, Henderson, Pether, et. al. Engraved by Ward, Caldwall, Earlom, et. al. A...

GEORGE DIONSYSIUS EHRET (1708-1770). Plantae Selectae.... Text by Dr. Christoph Trew. Drawn by Georg Dionsysius Ehret. Engraved by Johannes Jacobus and Johannes Elias Haid. Nuremberg, 1750-73. Hand-colored engravings. Titles highlighted with goldleaf. 100 plates. 19.5” x 13.5” Unframed. A supplement of 20 plates issued by B.C. Vogel in 1790. "The dominant influence in botanical art during the middle years of the 18th century." "One of the finest records of cultivated flowers..." "His accuracy and general excellence as a true botanical artist have never been equaled." Ehret’s praises have been sung throughout the centuries. While his training was in gardening, Ehret's true talents were in his art. Drawing the specimens from life in the garden's in which he labored won Ehret his employer's praise and his co-workers jealousy. Not only were his botanical portraits highly accurate in every technical detail, they reflected an awe-inspiring love of subject. A restless man, Ehret wandered from Heidelberg through Germany to Vienna and Basle, working his way to Paris and finally settling in London. He was honored by peers and patrons wherever he traveled. Ehret's list of benefactors include the most brilliant and generous members of society in his day. However, it was Christoph Trew, a wealthy physician, lifelong supporter and friend, who published the work for which Ehret is best known, Plantae Selectae. Ehret went to Leiden to meet Carolus Linnaeus and they became the best of friends. It is the Linnaen classification of plants to which Ehret subscribed. In distinguishing of the sexual systems of plants and the cross-sectioning of specimens, based on the teachings of Linnaeus, Ehret's illustrations have become the standard followed by horticulturists throughout the centuries. Ehret is the only foreigner to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in England. The illustrations for Plantae Selectae were printed in black and white and painstaking colored by hand at the time of publication. The color is superb! All of the initial words of the titles were gilded; a glorious tribute to an achievement of excellence. Various scholars at the time of publication praised the book highly, singling out the excellent quality of Ehret's watercolor studies, as well as Haid's fidelity to them. In a letter to Linnaeus in the 1750's, Dr. Trew called the book "one of the miracles of our century in the natural sciences." In the 1960's, Claus Nissen wrote "the Plantae Selectae became the most beautiful German plant...

GEORGE DIONSYSIUS EHRET (1708-1770). Plantae Selectae.... Text by Dr. Christoph Trew. Drawn by Georg Dionsysius Ehret. Engraved by Johannes Jacobus and Johannes Elias Haid. Nuremberg, 1750-73. Hand-colored engravings. Titles highlighted with goldleaf. 100 plates. 19.5” x 13.5” Unframed. A supplement of 20 plates issued by B.C. Vogel in 1790. "The dominant influence in botanical art during the middle years of the 18th century." "One of the finest records of cultivated flowers..." "His accuracy and general excellence as a true botanical artist have never been equaled." Ehret’s praises have been sung throughout the centuries. While his training was in gardening, Ehret's true talents were in his art. Drawing the specimens from life in the garden's in which he labored won Ehret his employer's praise and his co-workers jealousy. Not only were his botanical portraits highly accurate in every technical detail, they reflected an awe-inspiring love of subject. A restless man, Ehret wandered from Heidelberg through Germany to Vienna and Basle, working his way to Paris and finally settling in London. He was honored by peers and patrons wherever he traveled. Ehret's list of benefactors include the most brilliant and generous members of society in his day. However, it was Christoph Trew, a wealthy physician, lifelong supporter and friend, who published the work for which Ehret is best known, Plantae Selectae. Ehret went to Leiden to meet Carolus Linnaeus and they became the best of friends. It is the Linnaen classification of plants to which Ehret subscribed. In distinguishing of the sexual systems of plants and the cross-sectioning of specimens, based on the teachings of Linnaeus, Ehret's illustrations have become the standard followed by horticulturists throughout the centuries. Ehret is the only foreigner to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in England. The illustrations for Plantae Selectae were printed in black and white and painstaking colored by hand at the time of publication. The color is superb! All of the initial words of the titles were gilded; a glorious tribute to an achievement of excellence. Various scholars at the time of publication praised the book highly, singling out the excellent quality of Ehret's watercolor studies, as well as Haid's fidelity to them. In a letter to Linnaeus in the 1750's, Dr. Trew called the book "one of the miracles of our century in the natural sciences." In the 1960's, Claus Nissen wrote "the Plantae Selectae became the most beautiful German plant...

GEORGE DIONSYSIUS EHRET (1708-1770). Plantae Selectae.... Text by Dr. Christoph Trew. Drawn by Georg Dionsysius Ehret. Engraved by Johannes Jacobus and Johannes Elias Haid. Nuremberg...

Dionisios Fragias is a New York -based artist born on the Greek island of Kefalonia and raised in New York City. He is the protege of the artist Jeff Koons whose years-long mentorshi...

Original wood engraving on paper. Taken from Harper’s Weekly, April 7, 1860. Signed “Homer” in the plate. Condition is good. Slight staining lower left. Very slight tear to the l...

George EDWARDS Bird and beetle ('The Gowry Bird') Original engraving, enhanced with watercolor Printed signature in the plate Dated, 1741 28.8 x 23.3 cm Created for Volume I of the...

Etching with drypoint on cream wove paper, 11 3/4 x 13 3/4 inches (297 x 347 mm), full margins. Signed in pencil and numbered 32/40, lower margin. Minor mat tone and several small lo...

Hand-coloured tableau of a weeping spirit and her guardians, immobilised in marble. A disjointed narrative looking at recovery and protection, the angels shield the spirit with tender embraces and cry for her when alone. Taken from The Sialia Marbles, a series of portraits containing ephemeral human sculptures taken between 2016-19. Together these works act as tales contained in a fictional sculpture hall, in direct reaction to Andre Malraux’s 1947 Le Musee Imaginaire (Museum Without Walls). During the beginning of the 'Museum Age' in the 18th century , writer Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe discussed mythical...

Hand-coloured portrait of a human larvae bursting out of their cocoon, immobilised in marble. Representative of a safe and isolating space, the cocoon is both a cage and a shelter. This tale is a​ study of transformation, of breaking apart and coming back together as the larvae emerges from the silken threads. Taken from The Sialia Marbles, a series of portraits containing ephemeral human sculptures taken between 2016-19. Together these works act as tales contained in a fictional sculpture hall, in direct reaction to Andre Malraux’s 1947 Le Musee Imaginaire (Museum Without Walls). During the beginning of the 'Museum Age' in the 18th century , writer Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe discussed mythical sculpture...