Working among flowers

de Heather MacDonald, Mitchell Frank Merling, Sylvie Patry, Audrey Gay-Mazuel, Olivier Meslay

"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 Cézanne 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."-- "Exhibition catalogue that will feature five scholarly articles relating to the history of the floral still-life painting in nineteenth-century France. Catalogue section includes full-page color images of the 67 paintings in the exhibition with introductory commentary"--