Redouté "Beautiful Flowers and Fruits" | Large Format Botanical Book

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…. A sumptuous large-format edition of Pierre Joseph Redouté's celebrated botanical masterwork, published by Harrison House, New York, in 1985. … Read more …. A sumptuous large-format edition of Pierre Joseph Redouté's celebrated botanical masterwork, published by Harrison House, New York, in 1985. This gorgeous hardcover volume presents 144 richly reproduced color engravings drawn from Redouté's iconic original series — each plate a testament to the artist's legendary stipple technique, in which thousands of tiny ink dots conjure flowers of almost miraculous delicacy and depth.
The book includes a fascinating facsimile of an original 1820 handwritten invoice signed by Redouté himself, documenting the delivery of his Histoire des Roses — a remarkable artifact that connects this edition directly to the artist's own hand and history.

Whether displayed open to a favorite plate on a coffee table, layered into a styled bookshelf, or gifted to a lover of botanical art or garden history, this volume makes an immediate and lasting statement. A true decorating treasure as well as a collector's piece.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Pierre Joseph Redouté (1759–1840) is widely regarded as the greatest botanical illustrator in history — called "the Raphael of flowers" by his contemporaries. Born in Belgium, he arrived in Paris as a young man and swiftly rose to serve as court painter to Marie Antoinette, then to Napoleon's Empress Joséphine, whose legendary rose garden at Malmaison inspired his most celebrated work, Les Roses (1817–1824).

Redouté's genius lay in his mastery of stipple engraving — a technique using thousands of tiny dots to create luminous, almost three-dimensional flowers. His work bridged rigorous botanical science and fine art. Today, original Redouté prints command thousands at auction, and quality reproduction volumes remain highly sought by interior designers and collectors worldwide.

BOTANICAL PRINTS IN INTERIOR DESIGN
Botanical prints have been a cornerstone of refined interior decoration since the 18th century. Versatile and enduring, they bring the natural world indoors with an air of educated, well-traveled taste. In the hands of great decorators — David Hicks, Sister Parish, Bunny Williams — botanical plates have graced everything from grand English country houses to intimate Manhattan apartments.

Large-format books like this Redouté volume are especially flexible: open on a library table they function as rotating artwork; stacked on a coffee table they anchor a composition; propped against a wall they become a focal point. The current grandmillennial decorating revival has made Redouté more coveted than ever.

WHAT IS A HORTUS SICCUS?
A hortus siccus — Latin for "dry garden" — is a collection of pressed and dried plant specimens mounted on paper, arranged and labeled for study and preservation. Dating to the 16th century, it was the foundational tool of Renaissance botany and the most reliable way to preserve specimens before photography.

Redouté studied from hortus siccus collections at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, giving his illustrations their legendary accuracy. Today these collections are prized as both scientific artifacts and decorative objects — their aged paper, pressed forms, and handwritten Latin annotations among the most beautiful things that can be displayed under glass. Paired with this Redouté volume, a hortus siccus creates a layered, scholarly decorative narrative.


Botanical Book · Botanical Print · Pierre Joseph Redouté · Coffee Table Book · Decorative Book · French Regency · Empire Style · Naturalist Decor · Flower Engraving · Garden Book · Grandmillennial · Harrison House · Vintage Book · Hortus Siccus See less