L’Avocatier

This striking botanical print of luscious blue and green avocados is from Flore d’Amérique dessinée d’après nature sur les lieux (1843-1846), a rare book filled with the magnificent illustrations of French royal lithographer Etienne Denisse.

In a career that spanned the years from 1814 to 1857, Denisse worked at the botanical garden of the museum of natural history in Paris. Traveling to the West Indies as the botanical artist for a government-sponsored expedition, he sent back many plants and drawings, especially from Guadeloupe. From these he created the more than 200 hand-colored lithographic plates in his Flore d’Amérique.

Denisse’s vivid plant portraits include images of many fruits and vegetables, of which L’Avocatier (Avocados) is a notable example. Flore d’Amérique was a great success in its day, not only because of the beauty of its illustrations but also because of the French fascination with exotic plants. Although many of the plants are now familiar, the work remains of great importance for the extraordinary accuracy and artistry of its illustrations.

The botanical image measures 7¾” x 10”. It is matted and framed in a wooden frame with walnut veneer. The frames measures 17¾" x 15¼"

From the Collections of the LuEsther T. Mertz Library at The New York Botanical Garden.