Alexander S. George

This is a small but beautifully illustrated publication by the National Library of Australia about Banksias. In particular it is an historical record of Botanical Art involving Banksias for the last 200 years. I really enjoy the banksia trees ...they embody the Australian bush for me....despite he horrors engendered by the "big bad banksia man" in the work of May Gibbs. I have even tried my own hand in drawing the woody inflorescence of Banksia integrifolia and also the flowering inflorescence of the same species. It has given me an appreciation for how difficult these flowers are to paint. Unlike flowers with petals, the banksias give the artist no nice flattish planes to colour ...instead one is faced with layers of tiny, overlapping pistils and anthers. But for me, they encapsulate something that is uniquely Australian. I think the book says that there are about 100 species and sub species and only one of which is found as native outside Australia. One new species was only found in 2002 so maybe there are a few more out there still to be described.
I think the author, Alex George, has done an outstanding job with this collection. I enjoyed the introductory remarks about the history and some of the collectors...and enjoyed the short biographies of the artists....rather too many of them seeming to die in poverty. Clearly, the pursuit of a career in botanical painting has not been especially rewarding for most of the people who have pursued it.
But most of all, I really enjoyed studying the paintings. Though must confess, that I am not a great fan of the work of Ellis Rowan. Yes she has been prolific and her work is accurate up to a point but she lacks the detail of many of the other artists....Hard to go past the work of Adam Forster for example.
I enjoyed the book and happy to give it five stars.… (más)