Collecting flower Art is a personal journey; we all have different tastes. One person’s favourite piece is by Van Gogh, whilst another’s is by Flora Roberts. We discuss different types of flower art and what to look for as you view and experience each piece. Beauty, meaning, value and sensation all play their part in distinguishing our tastes. Examples of artist, Leah Nikolaou’s flower art is interwoven into this post and feature in our shop. We will help you to discover which of these is the most important to you and how this can build the essence of your collection.
What Are The Different Types Of Flower Art?
Through the generations, flower art has evolved through different mediums and styles. Below are some of the most prominent:
Oshibana
Oshibana is the art of creating pictures using nothing but pressed flowers and other dried botanical and natural elements. The term oshibana, meaning ”pressed flowers,” derives from 16th Japan but became fashionable in Britain during the Victorian era. Today, making pressed flower art pictures from natural elements has sky rocketed in popularity, with lots of examples for sale.
Herbarium Art
Herbarium art is the art of drying, pressing and labelling collections of plants, traditionally for scientific study by botanists. Despite being made to educate others about plants, herbarium collections are very collectable examples of art today.
Flower Painting
The most prominent genre of flower art is painting. Paintings of flowers in oils and watercolours have pervaded history as one of the most popular still-life subjects. Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, Monet’s Waterlillies and Georgia O Keefe’s Red Poppy are examples that would be at the fore of most people’s minds as being the best. I like an article written by My Modern Met discussing some lesser-known favourites, 12 Famous Flower Paintings That Make The Canva Bloom,’ citing ‘Still Life With Flowers’ by Ambrosius Bosschaert, ‘Flowers In A Glass Vase’ by John Constable and ‘White Vase With Flowers’ Odilon Redon, as the most famous.
Contemporary flower artists Flora Roberts and Lucy Wayne are leading the contemporary flower movement with whimsical interpretations of our favourite flowers.
Fine Art Flower Prints
During the 21st century, revolutionary inkjet print techniques made it possible to distribute quality reproductions of images or paintings that were extremely high in resolution, clarity and likeness. Many collections are limited editions that are numbered and certificated.
Floral Sculptural Art
Artists in the 21st century have pushed the boundaries with how they created art with flowers. Artsy shared an excellent article 10 Contemporary Artists Fresh Approach With Flowers; This article includes the work of Amber Cowan, who collects glass objects to upcycle into her art. Cecilia Paredes uses herself as a living sculpture, creating live performances of herself disappearing into prints her floral art.
Two other artists worth a peek at are Shannon Clegg, who describes herself as a ‘sculptor of flowers’; she creates organic vases sculpted from dried flowers. Shishi San also uses flower patterns woven into giant vases from her hand-woven carpets. They are a vision of wonder!
Mixed Media Flower Art
Flower art doesn’t have to be restricted to one genre and can often cross between disciplines, painting, textiles, glass, ceramics and much more. Artist Leah Nikolaou demonstrates this perfectly with her unique embroidered paper floral art. She begins with a fine art flower print as her base canvas and embroiders details onto it, using luxurious mohair and silk yarns. You can read more about her contemporary approach in the post Modern Pressed Flower Art For A Unique Flower Gallery. Likewise, floral artist Olga Prinku uses fabric mesh and an embroidery hoop to secure and weave dried flowers to make her breathtaking art.
What To Look For When Buying Flower Art
You may be driven by one or more of these factors when collecting:
Beauty
Flowers are beautiful still-life objects rich in a broad spectrum of colours and with incredible natural details to portray. Hense flower art is a much sought-after and collected still-life genre. The beauty captured through colour is often a deciding factor when purchasing artwork to fit an interior’s colour scheme. However, much artistry and creativity also go into keeping such a traditional theme fresh and contemporary, so look for original representations.
Considering the style of your art isn’t always crucial in achieving a cohesive collection, mixing modern and contemporary and different medias is very fashionable today. How the colours sit together can be the deciding factor. To get your creative juices inspired, you may like How To Make A Vintage Colour Palette which discusses theming an interior scheme around objects like a piece of art.
Emotion
Following your heart and your emotional response to your despicted subject is essential. Art can draw on emotions only relevant to you; for example, an image may remind you of a happy childhood memory or place. Symbolism also plays an important role in flower art, with its unique language. The Farmers Almanac discussed symbolism in Flower Meaning: The Language Of Flowers.
Value
The age of the flower art and the artist’s reputation determine the artwork’s value. Some collectors look to a historical context to theme their collections, like 19th-century florals, but the older it is can mean, the pricier it is. Setting a budget for your collection is essential and an excellent beginning. Consider the collection’s potential for appreciation over time and buy work from emerging artists as well as those more established.
Look at whether a piece of art comes mounted and framed. Look at the materials that are used for both. Using rare vintage fabrics to cover mounts for instance can add value to a piece as demonstrated in the art of Contempfleury. Read more in their blog post Authentic Vintage Laura Ashley Fabric & Unique Art Collaboration.
Where To Find Flower Art
Flower art can be purchased in person at art fairs and galleries representing various artists. Online galleries sometimes represent a wider pool of artists, selling less expensive art than some prestigious brick-built contemporaries.
To purchase directly from artists, social media is an excellent tool for discovery as the algorithms suggest posts tailored to your search tastes. Artists have links to their online stores, stockists and other marketplaces they sell in. Those artists whose artwork is in most demand often have nothing to sell on their websites/ stores but advertise times and dates that they will put their artwork live for sale.
Etsy is another platform for fledgling artists to market their artwork to an international audience. You can discover great artists as well as vintage floral artwork here. For second hand, vintage artwork brocantes are great events for finding sought-after pieces. Likewise, pieces can be untreasured at all price points at events, from flea markets and car boot sales to auctions. You may find The Appeal Of The Country Brocante In The Search For Rare Art & Paraphernalia an interesting read!
Resources For Finding Flower Art
The Decorative Antiques & Textile Fair
How Much Does Flower Art Sell For?
The vast spectrum ranges from around a hundred pounds to typically the £5,000 mark. Prices often depend on the medium used, the artistry, and the time it took to complete the artwork. Therefore, pieces of original artwork are the most sought-after. Still, artists also sell limited and open-edition prints, which are generally more affordable for those starting a flower art collection.
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Contempfleury
Contempfleury is an art studio run by Leah Nikolaou from her home and garden in Somerset. She works extensively with pressed flowers to create her one-of-a-kind flower art, pressed flower prints and pressed flower embroidery kits.
