Pierre-Joseph Redout\u00e9 was the greatest botanical artist of the golden era of French botanical illustration — the first four decades of the 19th century.\u00a0 His artistic career lasted an astonishing 67 years.\u00a0 According to botanical scholar Wilfred Blunt, \u201c[r]oyal patronage, tireless energy, and the assistance of a brilliant team of stipple engravers and printers, made it possible for him to produce illustrated books which have few rivals in the whole history of botanical art.\u201d\u00a0 Born in Belgium to a family of artists, Redout\u00e9 left home at age 13, traveling, studying art, and making a living as an itinerant painter for the next 10 years, when he arrived in Paris to join his older brother, a theatrical scene painter.\u00a0 Following his interest in flower painting, he began to frequent the Jardin du Roi (King\u2019s Garden).\u00a0 There he met his first major patron, the wealthy botanist Charles Louis L\u2019H\u00e9ritier de Brutelle, for whom he illustrated two botanical studies.\u00a0 He also became a prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of the Dutch artist Gerard van Spaendonck (1746-1882), professor of flower painting at the museum at the Jardin, whose watercolor technique profoundly influenced Redout\u00e9\u2019s style.\u00a0 In 1793, Redout\u00e9 and his younger brother joined the museum staff; after van Spaendonck\u2019s death in 1822, Redout\u00e9 succeeded him as a \u201cmaster of drawing.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1798, Redout\u00e9 attracted another important patron, the Empress Josephine, wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, who commissioned an extensive series of paintings after the ornamental flowers in her lavish gardens at Malmaison, which became the plates for the books Jardin de Malmaison<\/strong> (1803-04), Description des Plantes Rares Cultiv\u00e9es \u00e0 Malmaison et \u00e0 Navarre<\/strong> (1813).\u00a0 He also created plates for Duhamel du Monceau\u2019s monumental seven-volume horticultural study on fruit trees, Nouveau Trait\u00e9 des Arbres Fruitiers<\/strong> (1800-19). During this period he also produced two of his most famous works: Les Liliac\u00e9es<\/strong> (1802-16) and Les Roses <\/strong>(1817-24). There followed another renowned collection, Choix Des Plus Belles Fleurs <\/strong>(1827-33). Redout\u00e9 was esteemed by his artistic peers, and influenced a number of younger botanical artists including Pierre Jean Fran\u00e7ois Turpin, Pierre-Antoine Poiteau, Pancrace Bessa, Mme. Vincent and Jean Pr\u00e9vost.\u00a0 In 1825, he was made a member of the Legion of Honor.<\/p>\n A large number of Redout\u00e9\u2019s original watercolors on vellum are in the collection of the Mus\u00e9e National de La Malmaison in France and other museums, though many are in private collections.\u00a0 His renown, however, is due to the remarkable quality of the prints made after these paintings, which brought his works to a wider audience during his lifetime and thereafter.\u00a0 The most accomplished engravers of the period were engaged to translate his original paintings into stipple engravings, in which the plates are etched with small dots rather than lines.\u00a0 Indeed, Redout\u00e9 helped refine the stipple engraving process to best capture the subtle effects, luminosity, sheen and dimensionality of his original paintings. Through a method he invented in 1796, the colors were applied to the engraved plate a la poup\u00e9e<\/em> before each printing, \u201cgiving to our prints all the softness and brilliance of a watercolor,\u201d as Redout\u00e9 noted.\u00a0 Finally, each print was finished with additional coloring by hand.\u00a0 Redout\u00e9\u2019s high standards are evident in the striking way in which the resulting prints capture the subtle delicacy of flower petals and foliage.<\/p>\n The 486 plates that make up Les Liliac\u00e9es<\/strong> were printed in installments from 1802 to 1816, and included members of the lily family as well as some other plants.\u00a0 During this period, Redout\u00e9 was at work on a series of paintings commissioned by Empress Josephine Bonaparte of her gardens. Though these lily paintings were not part of that commission, the work was facilitated by Redout\u00e9\u2019s access to her garden at Malmaison, and he presented her with the original drawings.\u00a0 He also found subjects for this work in the gardens of Saint-Cloud, Versailles and S\u00e8vres.\u00a0 Redout\u00e9\u2019s stated intention was to capture the flowers \u201cwith all the fidelity that science can desire, and, which is more difficult, with the luxury of detail with which nature has embellished them,\u201d especially since specimens from this family of plants were particularly difficult to preserve. Thus, his prints were ideal for study by naturalists and amateur gardening enthusiasts.\u00a0 He also pointed out that artists and decorative arts designers were among those who could benefit from these plates, presumably as a reference and inspiration for floral designs.<\/p>\n Condition: Generally very good with the usual overall light toning, wear, soft creases.\u00a0 Faint, very pale scattered foxing, not obtrusive.\u00a0 Plate marks variously present, some close to margin, as typical for this work and thus likely as issued; margins still ample regardless.<\/p>\n References:<\/p>\n Blunt, Wilfred, rev. by Stearn, William T.\u00a0 The Art of Botanical Illustration.<\/em>\u00a0 Woodbridge, Suffolk, England: Antique Collectors Club, 1994.\u00a0 pp. 25-26, 194-209.<\/p>\n Brindle, John V., James J. White and Donald E Wendel.\u00a0 Flora Portrayed: Classics of Botanical Art from the Hunt Institute Collection.<\/em> Pittsburgh, PA: Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Carnegie-Mellon University, 1985.\u00a0 pp. 44-45.<\/p>\n Dunthorne, Gordon. Flower and Fruit Prints of the 18th and Early 19th Centuries. Their History, Makers and Uses, with a Catalogue Raisonne of the Works in Which They are Found.<\/em> Washington, D.C.: Published by the Author, 1938. 231 (Redout\u00e9 Lilies), 232 (Redout\u00e9 Roses), 235 (Redout\u00e9 Choix).<\/p>\n Lawrence, G.M.A., F.A. Stafleu, I. MacPhail, J.V. Brindle and A. Lawalr\u00e9e. A Catalogue of Redout\u00e9ana. April-Aug. 1963.<\/em> Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Institute of Technology, Hunt Botanical Library, 1963.\u00a0 10 (Redout\u00e9 Lilies), 19 (Redout\u00e9 Roses), 20 (Redout\u00e9 Choix).<\/p>\n Nissen, Claus. Die Botanische Buchillustration: ihre Geschichte und Bibliographie.<\/em> Stuttgart:1951-66.\u00a0 1591 (Redout\u00e9 Choix), 1597 (Redout\u00e9 Lilies), 1599 (Redout\u00e9 Roses).<\/p>\n Pierre-Joseph Redoute’s Les Liliacees.\u00a0 <\/em>New York: Sotheby’s Publications, 1985.<\/p>\n Pritzel, Georg August. Thesaurus Literaturae Botanicae Omnium Gentium.<\/em> Milan: 1950. 7456 (Redout\u00e9 Choix).<\/p>\n Sitwell, Sacheverell and Roger Madol.\u00a0 Album de Redoute.<\/em>\u00a0 London: Collins, 1954.<\/p>\n Sitwell, Sacheverell. Great Flower Books, 1700-1900.<\/em> New York: The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1990.\u00a0 pp. 71-72.<\/p>\n Stafleu, Frans A. and Richard S.Cowan. Taxonomic Literature.<\/em> Utrecht: 1967. 2nd ed., Utrecht: 1976-1988. TL2 8747 (Redout\u00e9 Lilies), TL2 8748 (Redout\u00e9 Roses), TL2 8750 (Redout\u00e9 Choix).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pierre-Joseph Redout\u00e9 (1759-1840) (after) A print of a Redout\u00e9 lily, titled in Latin lower left and in French lower right.\u00a0 It is from Album de Redout\u00e9, <\/strong>a compilation set of botanicals that included images from two of Redoute\u2019s most renowned works Les Liliac\u00e9es<\/strong> (1802-16) and Les Roses <\/strong>(1817-24).\u00a0 This work typically had 30 plates of lilies and roses, thought to have been hand selected by Redout\u00e9 himself for unique volumes.\u00a0 The lilies from Album de Redout\u00e9<\/strong> are virtually identical to those from the original Les Liliac\u00e9es <\/strong>(printed from the same plates), but the plates are slightly altered so that the images have different plate numbers, the dissected examples of flower parts are not included, and in some prints the bulb is shortened.\u00a0 The roses in the volume are also slightly altered, and printed on a larger sheet to correspond to the size of the sheet of the lilies.\u00a0 Album de Redout\u00e9<\/strong> was dedicated by Redout\u00e9 to Madame Duchesse de Berry.\u00a0 Its full title on the frontispiece (adapted from the rose wreath of Redout\u00e9\u2019s Les Roses),<\/strong> recognizing Redout\u00e9\u2019s titles and honors, is \u201cAlbum de Redout\u00e9 Peintre de Fleurs, Professeur au Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Histoire Naturelle, Chevr de la L\u00e9gion, D\u2019Honneur.\u201d<\/p>\n Product description continues below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":38081,"template":"","meta":{"wds_primary_product_brand":0,"wds_primary_product_cat":0,"footnotes":""},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[983],"product_tag":[7048,7056,2384,1512,3133,41,9314,2293,8134,3291,5542],"class_list":{"0":"post-38086","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-natural-history-art","7":"product_tag-antique-print","8":"product_tag-botanical-print","9":"product_tag-botanicals","10":"product_tag-engraving","11":"product_tag-flower","12":"product_tag-french","13":"product_tag-les-liliacees","14":"product_tag-malmaison","15":"product_tag-pierre-joseph-redoute","16":"product_tag-redoute","17":"product_tag-stipple-engraving","18":"post","19":"post-with-thumbnail","20":"post-with-thumbnail-large","22":"first","23":"instock","24":"purchasable","25":"product-type-simple"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/38086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/38086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38099,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/38086\/revisions\/38099"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=38086"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=38086"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=38086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nDe Gouy, Tassaert, Langlois, et al. (engravers)
\nPolianthes Tuberosa, Pl. 5 [Polianthes Lily]<\/strong>
\nfrom Album de Redout\u00e9<\/strong><\/em>
\nBossange P\u00e8re \u00c9diteur, Pairs: 1824
\nStipple engravings, printed in color and finished by hand
\n21.5 x 14.25 inches, overall
\n$450<\/p>\n