Natural History: French 19th Century Works on Paper and a New Selection of Paper Mosaics by William Booth Grey

From March 18 through May 1, 2005, The Drawing Room is pleased to present an exhibition of French natural history drawings and watercolors made in the 19th century, as well as a new selection of rare, hand-painted botanical collages by William Booth Grey (English, 1773-1852). The collection of French gouache, watercolor and pencil drawings – all direct observations from nature – includes works by professional naturalists such as Jean-Gabriele Prêtre (c. 1775 - c.1830), Anthelme-Eugène Grobon (1820-1878) and Louis-Pierre Riocreux (1791-1872), along with equally engaging examples by trained and untrained amateurs. Made before the invention of photography, most of these drawings served the purpose of recording a particular species during a period characterized by an obsessive interest in categorizing the wonders of nature.

Prêtre, who is represented by a refined and highly detailed watercolor and gouache study of wasps, was the official painter of the Museum of Natural History and the Ménagerie of the Empress Josephine, and was hired as a naturalist on the Napoleonic expeditions to record newly collected species in Egypt. A generation later, Grobon and his brother produced a number of very fine collections of hand-colored prints of flowers and in 1850 co-published an instruction manual for flower painters. Grobon’s delicate renderings of pears, whether Poire William or Poire Beurre Diedant, reveal the distinguishing profile and other characteristics of each species in three views per sheet: a delicate pencil contour of the circular bottom of the fruit; a cross section of a halved pear; and the whole fruit, painted in full color with watercolor.

See below for full press release and selected works.