Painting flowers, especially roses, has been popular for many centuries although there have been periods when the genre has been in and out of fashion. Victorian and Edwardian times were possibly the most popular for this absorbing career or hobby.
Painting flowers has provided and currently provides a livelihood for many; I have compiled a list of over 100 fine art painters of roses. This number must be just a small percentage of the whole.
There are also thousands of amateur flower painters who paint roses of whom I am one. The gallery has a few valuable paintings by professional artists but mostly I have collected inexpensive but appealing paintings by the enthusiastic amateur.
I am not a great collector of prints but I do have a few prints of paintings that I love but could not possibly aspire to collect such as those by John William Waterhouse or Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. The prints I really like are the stunning paintings of roses that have been especially commissioned by the postcard publishers in Edwardian times. I have many of these by a considerable number of talented artists. They help to compensate for not being able to justify the expense of original works of art.
Latest rose art images added
- Journal des Roses (1877 – 1914).
Vibrant chromolithographed illustrations from the French monthly rose journal founded by Scipion Cochet (1833-1896). ‘Journal des Roses’ was a magazine started by a rose grower for rose lovers and it was a popular magazine from its foundation in 1877 until its demise at the beginning of World War 1.
Every month there would be a coloured illustration, a few of which can be seen here, taken from the journals for 1885 and 1886.
The library holds journals from the years 1885, 1886, 1887 and 1888. The twelve copies from each year are bound into attractive volumes. I will photograph these together with some other French books for the library section.
- 19th century book illustrations
During the 19th century, early 20th century, it was extremely expensive to illustrate a book about roses using colour. Where images were used wood cut images were preferred. The one or two books that did contain colour were either books including images painted and lithographed by the author such as ‘Beauties of the Rose’ by Henry Curtis or ‘Rosarium Monographia’ by John Lindley or a book such as ‘The Rose Garden’ by William Paul for which, after much hard work, the author managed to acquire sponsorship.
Fortunately for us, 150 years or more later, the illustrations within some of these books have remained just as bright and beautiful as when first printed. For some of us the illustrations will have far greater appeal than the text!
From ‘Genus Rosa’ (1910-1914) Ellen Willmott
‘Rosarium Monographia. (1820) John Lindley.
‘Beauties of the Rose’ (1850-1853) Henry Curtis.
‘A Book about Roses’ (1869) Samuel Reynolds Hole. ‘Beauties of the Rose’
‘Beauties of the Rose’
‘Beauties of the Rose’ ‘Rosenbuch’ Dr Julius Hoffmann. (Undated)
‘Beauties of the Rose’
‘The Scented Garden’ (1931) Eleanour Sinclair Rohde’ William Paul Catalogue 1890’s
‘Beauties of the Rose’.
‘Genus Rosa’. ‘Genus Rosa’.
‘A Book about Roses’ Samuel Reynolds Hole. (Different editions had different paintings as a frontispiece). Supplement to ‘The Rose Garden’ (1853)
Supplement to ‘The Rose Garden’ (1853) ‘Rosenbuch’.
‘The Rose Garden’ (1848).
Frontispiece to this book (1838) ‘Beauties of the Rose’
