Drawn From Nature: The Flowering of Irish Botanical Art

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 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.

Foreword by Dr Shirley Sherwood, OBE and featuring 220 glorious colour illustrations of botanical artworks from the 17th century to the present, this  unique account of Irish botanical art by author, art historian, and curator, Patricia Butler demonstrates the significant contributions made by Irish artists in the field of botanical art.