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You’re about to enter an art gallery of plants.
It includes a few of the world’s most famous paintings of plants and some examples of ways plants themselves can be artwork.
Famous Plant Paintings
Water Lilies
by Claude Monet
Sunflowers in a Vase
by Vincent van Gogh
◀ Ikebana, or Japanese flower arranging, began approximately 1,400 years ago. Today there are many styles of ikebana. Rikka, a traditional style, requires nine flower stems or parts of stems arranged in specific lengths, angles, and directions. Freestyle ikebana leaves everything up to the arranger, including what to express and how to express it. Even the use of paper, plastics, or metal in the arrangement is acceptable.
Bonsai, a Japanese word that means “tray-planted,” is the art of growing miniature trees by carefully trimming roots and stems. Bonsai trees range in size from two inches to three feet. Bonsai developed in China over 1,000 years ago. The gnarled trunks of the tiny trees gave rise to myths and legends about animals, dragons, and birds. In the twelfth century, bonsai migrated to Japan. There, it came to represent the harmony between people, the soul, and nature. ▶
Floral designer and sculptor Jimmy Gaeta uses flowers to create art. “Flowers are my palette,” he says. “Just as oils or watercolors are a painter’s palette. When I make an arrangement, I respond to the color, shape, and texture of each bloom as well as to the environment the arrangement is meant for.” ▶
