History and Dictionary of British Flower Painters: 1650-1950
By (Author) Josephine Walpole
ACC Art Books
ACC Art Books
1st June 2006
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
Botanical art
Dictionaries of biography
759.2
Hardback
240
Width 235mm, Height 280mm
1540g
British flower painting has its own unique, if relatively recent, history, but it can only be judged in the light of the wider history of the subject and by comparison with other, particularly European, countries. The first chapter of "A History and Dictionary of British Flower Painters", therefore, sets the scene with a brief introduction to floral art world wide before the next four chapters concentrate on British flower painting in the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Over ninety colour plates illustrate these five chapters. The Dictionary gives the biographical details of more than 970 British flower painters from 1650-1950 including their specialities, awards, exhibitions an bibliographical details. The work of many is illustrated in black and white. 90 colour & 170 b/w illustrations
Despite an almost life-long enthusiasm for art and artists, Josephine Walpole initially bowed to parental pressure and qualified as an accountant. Some years on she was able to change direction and for three years trained privately under the late Stuart Somerville from whom she learnt not only to paint, but also much of the philosophy and history of art and artists. She subsequently ran her own gallery for over twenty years which further qualified her to write about them. Her first full-length work was Anna, a biography of Anna Zinkeisen published in 1979. Ten further books by her include Leonard Squirell R.W.S., R.E.: A Biographical Scrapbook, Vernon Ward: An Edwardian Childhood, Art and Artists of the Norwich School and Kenneth Webb: A Life in Colour.