Plant: Exploring the Botanical World

by Phaidon Press

The ultimate gift for gardeners and art-lovers, featuring 300 of the most beautiful and pioneering botanical images ever Following in the footsteps of the international bestseller Map, Exploring the World , this fresh and visually stunning survey celebrates the extraordinary beauty and diversity of plants. It combines photographs and cutting-edge micrograph scans with watercolours, drawings, and prints to bring this universally popular and captivating subject vividly to life. Carefully selected by an international panel of experts and arranged in a uniquely structured sequence to highlight thought-provoking contrasts and similarities, this stunning compilation of botanically themed images includes iconic work by celebrated artists, photographers, scientists, and botanical illustrators, as well as rare and previously unpublished images. Advisory panel : Rosie Atkins, Gillian Barlow, Brent Elliott, Celia Fisher, Patricia Jonas, Rob Kesseler, Hans Walter Laack, Gren Lucas, Henry Noltie, Mikinori Ogisu, Pia Östlund, Lynn Parker, Martyn Rix, Charlotte Tancin, Alice Tangerini and Anita Walsmit Sachs Additional texts : Rosie Atkins, Helen Bynum, Ruth Chivers, James Compton, Tim Cooke, Brent Elliott, Celia Fisher, Carolyn Fry, Patricia Jonas, Rob Kesseler, Hans Walter Lack, Paula McWaters, Pia Östlund, Lynn Parker, Martyn Rix, Julian Shaw, Charlotte Tancin, Alice Tangerini, Guy Tindale, Jacek Wajer and Martin Walters

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Nature, Science, Photography, Gardening, Picture Books

352 pages, Hardcover

Published September 26, 2016

About the author

Phaidon Press is a global publisher of books on art, architecture, design, fashion, photography, and popular culture, as well as cookbooks, children's books, and travel books. The company is based in London and New York City, with additional offices in Paris and Berlin. -wikipedia

Reviews

[Nicola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite possibly one of the most beautiful books I've ever seen. The large format illustrations and photographs are easy to examine. The contrast between the historical illustrations and the modern, and the historical illustrations and photographs, is intriguing, fascinating and revealing - especially about how we view the world today, via our present technologies. It's on my 'to buy one day' list. And I intend to borrow it again from our library to note more of the illustrators and photographers so I can look further at their work. (Have already danced down the Google path to some additional pleasures from a few of the artists showcased here.)

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is stunning.

[Kym · Rating 5 out of 5]

May I just add a few more stars here? like 5 more? Ok. Good. 10 stars, then.

This coffee-table book has page after page of artists renderings of plants. There are ancient engravings of wheat and laser engravings of waterlilies. From stylized prints to enlarged photographs of microscopic seeds, this book is eye candy for plant lovers and artists. There is enough information on each page to tell about the artist, the medium and the plant without going crazy.

I can't get enough.

[Firas Rafislam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something unexpected and imaginative just came around botanists, scientists, even artists with their curiosity. At least, how come the creativity drive the nature in around to another view from them?every media in their creations have own different cultures and the style of the plants which described the personality. Charles Darwin have own-drawing in their explorations, Da Vinci also experimented with the plant, something detailed that noticed attentions on them.

Reflection on this beautiful just came to art enough, without anything to appreciate the nature with an art and our graphics today. You would discover many artists from around the world have arrogantly showing the works from their world, and also different generations, explained with detailed and behind of explanations. Even, today I'm little learning about botany, because the motivations from their arts.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book containing many artworks featuring plants and flowers. Photographs, drawings, watercolors, prints, fresco, woodcut, engravings, including both antique and modern illustrations. Both well-known and little-known artists and scientists. Some known for other styles such as J.M.W. Turner, Charles Darwin, Audubon, William Morris, and of course Anonymous. Even some stills from moving installations.
Highly recommended. I love the illustrations. I'm less keen on the text. It's in such tiny print it's hard to read. The print size is the reason for the less-than-five-star rating.
I'd love to have a copy of this book. In the meantime, I plan to check it out of the library again sometime.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous! I love those intersections of art and science, and this chooses botanical imagery as a focal point. Each page has a different drawing/painting/photograph, etc. of a plant (often a flower) with a short paragraph of description. Some pictures are created with medical imaging equipment in recent years, other depictions date back several millennia.

[Florilegium · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb compendium of botanical images covering centuries of artistic and scientific exploration of plants. It goes beyond what is currently (and restrictively) classified as botanical art to include photography, etchings, sculpture, book extracts, and installations.
The Timeline section at the back is a font of information.
A book which keeps on revealing the beauty of plants.

[Sigrun Hodne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lavishly illustrated guide to botanical art through the ages. "Plant" includes iconic work by well known artists and botanical illustrators, as well as rare and previously unpublished images - each image is followed by an explanatory text.

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so incredibly beautiful with the perfect amount of relevant information. I originally borrowed a copy from the library, but it was so good, I may just need to buy a copy for home. Need more PLANT!

[Tadeusz Pudlik · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely large-format book of botanical illustrations. The images chosen are generally both interesting and beautiful, and the accompanying descriptions surprisingly informative despite their brevity.

[Brianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous display of botanical artworks ranging from 600 AD (earliest one I noticed) to present day including more traditional mediums to x-ray and microscope imaging. Beautiful book.

[Bill Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really nice book if you're into botanical images and the text has some fascinating stories.

[Sara Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sublime!

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book as a Christmas gift and almost immediately fell in love! The variety of botanically derived works of art is fantastic and, like all Phaidon books, the color reproductions are fantastic. There is just the right amount of text. This book has inspired me to research many of the featured artists in depth.

I can't really add a "finished this book" date because I will certainly go back to it for reference for years to come.

[Lucinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful exploration of the botanical world by blending art and science.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a beautiful book. Loved it.

[Bobby · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pictures are truly amazing. The artists range from household names like M.C. Escher, Da Vinci, and Georgia O'Keeffe to others less known (but no less fabulous). The amount of text is relatively small but just perfect. The sheer heft of the book is somewhat intimidating; definitely more of a reference book for most people.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous images of the botanical world. Very uplifting durning these gray days.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible photographs and artwork of plant life! Each page is a full-color photo or illustration and below is a description of the plant and artist/photographer. The range of artwork from early illuminated manuscripts or engravings to modern technology is amazing!! This is a coffee table book that my kids (and I) could devour for hours...

[JodiP · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, what a gorgeous, interesting book. I wasn't able to get through it all in 3 weeks, but enjoyed it immensely, with its historical and modern representations of plants. Well wroth checking out again, and perhaps to ask for a gift.

[Nicky By Nature · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has taken me ages to read - it's a fantastic monster of a book of the coffee table type. I'm still dipping into it as it is just so full of lovely images and I'm sure I'll refer to it in the years to come. Well worth buying!

[Robert]

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[Lisa Rivas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely beautiful book, I enjoyed reading about the images, very insightful.