Dutch Floral Painting
The History of Floral Painting
Throughout history, flowers have been the subject matter in many artists' works since the Medieval period. A lily symbolizes purity in the painting of ‘The Virgin and the Child with Saints’ by Italian painter, Lorenzo Lotto (Gottesman, 2017). In Claude Monet’s painting, he adorns his works with water lilies.
Fig. 1
Lorenzo Lotto
The Virigin and the Child, 1522
Oil on Canvas
Several years ago, botanical art illustrations has re-emerged among art enthusiasts who dabbled in watercolour and has since built an interest to capture flowers in its minute detail. Back then, the primary purpose was to collate for consolidation of medical and scientific manuscripts.
When it comes to florals, one has to look to the Dutch/Flemish painters who were the pioneers in painting beautiful realistic masterpieces of flowers as their subject matter. Notably one of the most celebrated art forms known for its vibrant materialism and supreme technical skill in perfection, Flemish art in the 15th century to 17th century has blossomed and evolved in the nature of capturing still life’s nature and the beauty of realism.
Dutch Floral Painting
Fig. 2 Dutch Floral Painting Workshop at LACA
LACA recently conducted a Dutch floral painting workshop that spans over 2 weeks. Our students immersed themselves in our studio environment with a floral still life set-up and learned how Dutch/Flemish painters create their works. The workshop guided step-by-step at LACA produced beautiful masterpieces with different variations and styles created by the students.
Keen to learn more about oil painting and how to grow in your craft?
For more information, head over to our long-term programs to find out more:
https://laca.sg/collections/long-term-art-programs
Bibliography
Gottesman, S. (2017, July 1). A Brief History of Flowers in Western Art. Retrieved from Artsy: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-van-gogh-okeeffe-art-historys-famous-flowers
Richman-Abdou, K. (2018, March 16). How Flowers Blossomed Into One of Art History’s Most Popular Subjects. Retrieved from My Modern Met: https://mymodernmet.com/flower-art-history/
