This striking originally hand-colored stipple engraving is from Pierre Joseph Redoute's Choix des Plus Belles Fleurs. The work was published in Paris in 1827 by Panckoucke. It is considered the third edition with the plate numbers added to the engravings.

Redoute's name is synonymous with beauty and in the world of botanical art he is known as the best. Choix is often considered some of Redoute's most desirable work, a culmination of his impressive skill and talent. He aimed to make the composition more appealing to the upper classes which created highly decorative engravings.

Redoute's fame is due in large part to his diligent effort to perfect the use of stipple engraving. This labor intensive, and therefore expensive, technique creates subtle yet stunning variations of color making it superior to the engraving alone. Each plate was created using the 'a la poupee' process in which the color was applied before the printing. Hand-finished coloring was painstakingly applied after printing.

Redoute was renowned for his artistic ability and tutored such people as Queen Marie-Antoinette, Empress Josephine, Marie-Louise, and Queen Marie-Amelie. Redoute influenced a breadth of artists that followed him including Turpin, Poiteau, Bessa, and Prevost. Redoute is widely considered the finest botanical illustrator of the early 19th century, if not throughout history.

The process of stipple engraving and color printing give the Redoute engravings their luminous quality. Stippling is an etching process that employs dots instead of lines to form the image, which is then color printed by applying colored inks directly to the copper plate for each impression. The use of colored inks, greens and browns to print the stems and leaves, and reds and pinks to print the flowers, create a more luminous print by eliminating the necessity to paint watercolor over a back inked image.

The present image shows Redout? at his most assured, combining the best of his artistic background with his skill as an observer of nature. He writes in the preface to the Choix: ''It is with the benefit of experience, and encouraged by the most flattering approval of naturalists and painters of France and abroad, that I undertook took this most agreeable of botanical works. By ceaseless observation of nature, in its constancy and its variety of forms and colours, I believe that I have reached that synthesis of botanical accuracy, composition and colouration that is essential to produce the perfect image of the plant kingdom.'


Paper Size ~ 9 1/2" by 13"

The work is in very good to excellent condition overall. There are a few faint fox marks near the edges. There may be a few minor imperfections to be expected with age. Please review the image carefully for condition and contact us with any questions.