Working Among Flowers: Floral Still-Life Painting in Nineteenth-Century France

About this book

A superb exploration of the radical re-invention of the floral still life by 19th-century French painters Working Among Flowers explores the infusion of new spirit and meaning into the traditional genre of floral still-life painting in 19th-century France even as the advent of modernism was radically transforming the art world. This beautiful book features works by more than 30 artists including well-known painters such as Vincent van Gogh Edouard Manet and Paul Czanne as well as less familiar figures such as Antoine Berjon and Simon Saint-Jean. Insightful essays reveal the emerging dialogue between the floral still life botanical illustration and models of science; the critical context for instruction in and reception of flower painting; the misunderstood relationship between avant-garde flower painting and the market; the cultural meanings of the vases and ceramic vessels depicted by painters; and the literary context for flower painting.