Showing all 12 results
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Joseph Banks’ Florilegium: Botanical Treasures from Cook’s First Voyage
Artist/Author: Gooding, Mel, David J Mabberley (Authors)$120.00 Add to cartJoseph Banks accompanied Captain Cook on his first voyage round the world from 1768 to 1771. A gifted and wealthy young naturalist, Banks collected exotic flora from Madeira, Brazil, Tierra del Fuego, the Society Islands, New Zealand, Australia and Java, bringing back over 1300 species that had never been seen or studied by Europeans. On his return, Banks commissioned over 700 superlative engravings between 1772 and 1784. Known collectively as Banks’ Florilegium, they are some of the most precise and exquisite examples of botanical illustration ever created.
The Florilegium was never published in Banks’ lifetime, and it was not until 1990 that a complete set in colour was issued in a boxed edition (limited to 100 copies) under the direction of the British Museum (Natural History). It is from these prints that the present selection is made, directed by David Mabberley, who has provided expert botanical commentaries, with additional texts by art historian Mel Gooding, setting the works in context as a perfect conjunction of nature, science and art. An afterword by Joseph Studholme describes the history of the modern printing.
Winner of the 2017 ABC James A. Duke Excellence in Botanical Literature Award
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Beginner’s Guide to Botanical Flower Painting
Artist/Author: Lakin, Michael$37.00 Add to cartClean, fresh and precise botanical artwork is within your grasp, with Mick Lakin’s clear and simple approach. This complete guide to the crisp, precise finish of botanical painting marries traditional technique with contemporary style and includes sections on colour, drawing, continuous tone, composition and dissection. Michael Lakin makes botanical art approachable with simple exercises and a variety of step-by-step instructional approaches, making this a fantastic guide for aspirational beginners.
Michael Lakin was born and bred in South Derbyshire, UK. His early learning was basic but he always excelled in art. After leaving school he moved into engineering, becoming a manager, before he left to start his own business. Michael kept up art as a hobby and began to teach classes in Botanical Art to adults at Derby WAEA. Since then he has exhibited in London and other parts of the UK. He has a purpose-built studio next to his rural home, where he teaches and gives demonstrations throughout the year.
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Albert Namatjira
Artist/Author: National Gallery of Australia$40.00 Add to cartA bruised ridge of hills. A scrub-mottled plain. Ghost gums framing a wash of sky …
Pioneering Aboriginal watercolourist Albert Namatjira’s landscape paintings are synonymous with our perception of the Australian outback. But these luminous landscapes also expressed Namatjira’s deep connection with the Western Arrarnta Country for which he was a traditional custodian. This is the first publication of Namatjira’s work since the copyright was returned to his descendants, and celebrates the legacy of this important artist through a selection of his evocative watercolours from the NGA’s world-renowned collection.
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Marianne North: The Kew Collection
Artist/Author: RBG Kew$80.00 Add to cartMarianne North was a remarkable Victorian traveller and painter, who traversed the globe recording the world’s flora with her paintbrush and writing her experiences in her journal.
In 1879 she offered her painting collection numbering over 800 to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and at her own expense built a gallery to house them. Marianne stayed closely involved with the project, painting beautiful decorative motifs on the interior door panels and surrounds.
For the first time, this unique and stunning book brings together all of Marianne North’s Kew collection. The paintings are arranged geographically as they appear in the Gallery, and Marianne’s original titles are included alongside each painting.
With an introduction by Christopher Mills, former Head of Kew’s Library, Art and Archives. This is a beautiful gift souvenir in celebration of a stunning body of work.
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Amazing Rare Things: The Art of Natural History in the Age of Discovery
Artist/Author: Attenborough, Sir David (Author), Susan Owens (Author), Martin Clayton (Author), Rea Alexandratos (Author), Jane Roberts (Foreword By)$45.00 Add to cartFrom the fifteenth century onwards, as European explorers sailed forth on grand voyages of discovery, their encounters with exotic plants and animals fanned intense scientific interest. Scholars began to examine nature with fresh eyes, and pioneering artists transformed the way nature was seen and understood. In Amazing Rare Things, renowned naturalist and documentary-maker David Attenborough joins with expert colleagues to explore how artists portrayed the natural world during this era of burgeoning scientific interest.
The book focuses on an exquisite selection of natural history drawings and watercolors by Leonardo da Vinci, Alexander Marshal, Maria Sibylla Merian, and Mark Catesby, and from the collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo – works all held in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle. Attenborough and his coauthors offer lucid commentary on topics ranging from the 30,000-year history of human drawings of the natural world, to Leonardo’s fascination with natural processes, to Catesby’s groundbreaking studies that introduced Europeans to the plants and animals of North America. With 160 full color illustrations, this beautiful book will appeal to readers with interests that extend from art and science to history and nature.
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Capturing the Essence: Techniques for Bird Artists
Artist/Author: William T Cooper$68.00 Add to cartIn this stunningly beautiful book, bird artist William T. Cooper explores and demonstrates all aspects of drawing and painting birds. Renowned for his gorgeous and accurate wildlife renderings, Cooper here explains in detail how to create a true impression of a bird’s appearance. The author describes his own experiences among birds in the wild, discusses bird anatomy, and lays out the essential principles of realistic painting. He guides both seasoned artists and enthusiastic beginners through all the techniques and processes involved in depicting birds anywhere in the world. In the first part of the book, Cooper covers materials, bird anatomy, methods of working from captive birds (in zoos, for example), and methods for working in the field. He places special emphasis on the artist’s understanding of the subject and how this knowledge can be transformed into drawings and paintings. The second part of the book deals with watercolors, acrylics, and oil paints, explaining for each medium the step-by-step processes leading from beginning sketches to finished work.
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An Eye for Nature: The Life and Art of William T. Cooper
Artist/Author: Olsen, Penny, Foreword by David Attenborough$50.00 Add to cartIn the work of artist William T.Cooper, platypuses swim in green underwater worlds, waves throw up blankets of spray, embers glow in the aftermath of a bushfire, a Thylacine emerges from the shadows, sniffing the air. But it is his paintings of birds which set Cooper apart—his raucous cockatoos, colourful parrots, animated turacos and flamboyantly displaying birds of paradise. Often placed in meticulously studied landscapes, these intricate bird portraits reveal Cooper’s close observation not only of his subjects’ appearance, but their habits, poses and behaviour. In this biography, Penny Olsen traces the path of Cooper’s life and art—from his childhood spent in the bush, to his teenage years as an apprentice taxidermist at Carey Bay Zoo and, later, to his work as a window dresser and landscape artist. She documents his fruitful partnership with wife and collaborator Wendy Cooper and his extensive travels in Australia and abroad in pursuit of his subjects.
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The Vision and Passion of William T. Cooper: A Retrospective
Artist/Author: Cooper, Wendy (Editor)$30.00 Add to cartA catalogue of images published in association with the exhibition The Vision of William T. Cooper: A Retrospective presented at the Tableland Regional Gallery in Atherton, from 1st September – 26th November 2017.
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Remarkable Birds
Artist/Author: Avery, Mark$55.00 Add to cartIn this beautifully presented volume, over 60 birds are introduced, organized thematically into eight sections, covering all aspects of our relationship with birds. ‘Songbirds’ celebrates the greatest bird virtuosi, such as the Nightingale, while ‘Birds of Prey’ include majestic hunters such as the Harpy Eagle, which catches prey as large as monkeys and sloths. ‘Feathered Travellers’ describes astounding journeys made by birds – even some tiny Hummingbirds migrate huge distances. ‘The Love Life of Birds’ can rival any soap opera and involves the most brilliant displays, notably the Birds of Paradise, with their extravagant feathers and dances. ‘Avian Cities’ explores species such as the Flamingo that live in spectacular large colonies. ‘Useful to Us’ examines the ways we find birds of value, such as the Turkey, but also the Canary. ‘Threatened and Extinct’ describes some no longer living and others that are currently on the brink. Birds have also had great mystical significance, both for good and evil, and ‘Revered and Adored’ considers such species as the Sacred Ibis, believed by the ancient Egyptians to represent the god Thoth.
For anyone interested in the natural world and the wonderful variety of birds around us, this beautifully illustrated book is a visual treat that will inspire, inform and delight. -
Women artists: images of nature.
Artist/Author: Hart, Andrea.$30.00 Add to cartThroughout the centuries women have made significant contributions to natural history art, science and education. This stunning collection celebrates the work and lives of women artists spanning the last four centuries and is illustrated with a selection of exquisite artworks from the unrivalled collections held in the Library of the Natural History Museum. The book features specially selected artworks by women from the seventeenth century onwards. The artists share a fascination and enthusiasm for the natural world and together their work combines to cover a broad range of different techniques and subject matters. There are fine butterfly drawings by accomplished natural history illustrator Margaret Fountaine, vivid illustrations of Indian natural, cultural and social history by Olivia Tonge, and detailed bird images by Elizabeth Gould, who married highly regarded ornithologist John Gould and produced over 600 illustrations for her husband’s publications. Featuring celebrated artworks and rarely-seen gems, this book serves up a visual feast of the never ending wonders of the natural world and the significant role that women have played in observing and documenting it.
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Life on the Rocks: The Art of Survival
Artist/Author: Nikulinsky, Philippa and Stephen D Hopper.$35.00 Add to cartOUT OF PRINT. REPRINT UNDER CONSIDERATION. Providing ecological and historical perspectives on the diverse, resilient flora and fauna that inhabit granite outcrops, this beautifully illustrated documentation explores Australia’s diverse wildlife – including the closest relatives to Granitites intangendus, a shrub that thrives in southern Australia’s harsh climate – revealing its origins in ancient rainforests that once covered the region.
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The Art of Plant Evolution
Artist/Author: Kress, W, John and Shirley Sherwood.$75.00 Read moreOUT OF PRINT. Art meets science in this book that aims to give readers a sense of some contemporary scientific discoveries that are changing our understanding of plant relationships. 136 botanical paintings from the Shirley Sherwood Collection, by 84 artists, cover 50 orders of plants in 118 families, and a total of 133 species, providing a sweeping overview of the evolution of plants on earth.
The paintings display a sampling of the plant world from fungi to daisies, including algae, mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants arranged in the most up to date evolutionary sequence, determined by recent DNA analysis. The text places each artist’s observations as displayed in the paintings, in the context of modern plant classification, providing readers with a new understanding of the complex interrelationships between plant species, and enhancing their appreciation of the botanical artist’s ability to portray the delicate beauty of nature.
