Plants and Their Application to Ornament A Nineteenth-Century Design Primer
Published in association with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Plants and Their Application to Ornament: A Nineteenth-Century Design Primer is a one-hundred-four-page book showcasing Eugène Grasset’s 1897 botanical illustrations.
Context
David P. Becker, collector and curator of prints, drawings, and rare books, writes:
“Eugène Grasset’s Plants and Their Application to Ornament represents a significant turning point in the evolution of the decorative arts. Grasset was a graphic designer and teacher whose innovative models were an important inspiration for the Art Nouveau movement at the end of the nineteenth century.”
Book Exterior
Plants and Their Application to Ornament represents the summation of Grasset’s teaching on the decorative arts. The volume offers three variations on each of the twenty-four plant forms, for a total of seventy-two illustrations.
Fabric spine extension with blind debossing.
The title on the spine is debossed with a slate gray ink.
Book Interior: Front Matter
The interior, typeset in the serif typeface Caslon Old Style, designed in 1722 by William Caslon, contains an Introduction by David P. Becker and Foreword by Eugène Grasset.
Foreword by Eugène Grasset, May 1896.
Endsheet (Detail)
Book Interior: Plates
The Plates section reflects three variations on each of twenty-four plant forms, for a total of seventy-two illustrations, including Crown Imperial, Glycine, Iris, Poppy, and more.
Plate: 47 and 48, Glycine
Plate: 2, Iris (Detail)
Plate: 4, Poppy (Detail)
Plate: 7, Water Lily (Detail)
Plate: 24, Cyclamen (Detail)
