Drawn From Nature : The Flowering of Irish Botanical Art

Written and researched by author and art historian Patricia Butler, this publication is the first to explore the importance of Irish botanical art in a wide range of fascinating areas.

Written and researched by author and art historian Patricia Butler, this publication is the first to explore the importance of Irish botanical art in a wide range of fascinating areas.

"Generous colour illustrations throughout the book, often full-page, complement her elegant text. As an exhaustive guide to the genre’s evolution in Ireland, it merits warm welcome." — Apollo Magazine

"...a meticulously researched and beautifully-illustrated publication which is impressively comprehensive in its scope." — The Irish Times

"Drawn from nature is an illuminating pot-pourri paying tribute to the women and men, few of them professional artists, who have portrayed plants from Ireland and elsewhere since the eighteenth century." — Archives of Natural History
For centuries, artists of all disciplines have expressed delight in nature through the highly skilled and captivating medium of botanical art.

The distinguished contributions of Irish botanical artists include records of plants from 17th-century Ireland, early illustrated floras and botanical art found in the field of design. Drawn from Nature: The Flowering of Irish Botanical Art also covers the importance of botanical art to the Ordnance Survey of Ireland during the 19th century, as well as the vital plant portraits produced by Irish women. These portraits assisted generations of botanists in understanding and describing the natural world but received scant recognition.

Published for the first time, these outstanding examples of Irish botanical art, from both public and private collections, demonstrate a shared desire by botanical artists to observe, illuminate and record Ireland’s unique flora. This book finally affords them the recognition they deserve.