Plants and Their Application to Ornament: A Nineteenth-Century Design Primer

by Eugène Grasset, David P. Becker (Foreword)

Elegant botanical illustrations from the classic 1897 design book Plants and Their Application to Ornament arereproduced in this lavish collection. Sure to delight artists, designers, and fans of the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau styles, this gorgeous volume features flowering plants depicted as realistic natural history-style illustrations and stylized images demonstrating plant-based design motifs used on textiles, wallpapers, and more. Published in association with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, this deluxe edition presents an important art history artifact, a useful design reference, and a lovely and ornamental objet d'art.

Genres: Art, Reference

104 pages, Hardcover

First published December 20, 2007

Reviews

[ambyr]

Quite possibly the most beautiful book I own. My only regret is that there appear to be some plants from the original (parsley, honeysuckle) that didn’t make it into this reproduction.

[jess]

I greatly appreciated this book. It is big and has thick pages and feels very serious. The pictures were created by a graphic designer in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It's all about plants (with a botanic illustration of each and their use in decorative design - so there are several full-color plates of various patterns and designs based on each plant's defining characteristics.

The two worst things about this book:
1. it should be five times as long.
2. it should come with a gift certificate for tattoos so you can get your favorite flower as permanent art.

This book really made me want to get a nasturtium tattoo since I have been eating them so much this year and they are so beautiful.

[Laura]

Purty! I liked the naturalistic drawings first, then the variations on that pattern in art deco styles. It was interesting to see how a flower/leaf shape could be altered or stylized. Some Asian, and Middle Eastern textile and carpet designs now make a bit more sense to me.

Can someone please make these designs into beautiful skirts and dresses I can wear to work?
Especially the poppy prints?

[Jen S.]

Major eye candy!!! A whole coffee table sized book of botanical patterns. It actually looks rather like a sample book of very formal wallpaper or textile patterns. Not much text, background, or explanation; just page after page of patterns based on flowers, foliage, and plant form.

[Arwen]

Absolutely incredible coffee table stunner. Gorgeous 19th century botanical illustrations paired with yummy William Morris-esque botanical patterns. Wish I could draw like that.

[Liz]

Perfect design book that I keep coming back to. I love it.