Art & Artists

Jean Gabriel Prêtre (1768–1849) was one of the foremost zoological illustrators of the 19th century. His detailed, lifelike renderings of birds, mammals, reptiles, and insects brought the natural world to life on the printed page and helped define the visual identity of modern zoology.

Pierre Jean François Turpin (1775–1840) was a French botanical illustrator known for the clarity, accuracy, and delicate beauty of his work. Recognized as one of the finest natural history artists of the early 19th century, Turpin combined scientific precision with refined artistic sensitivity, contributing significantly to the visual language of botanical science.

In the pantheon of botanical illustration, Pancrace Bessa (1772–1846) occupies a graceful, luminous place. A student of both Gérard van Spaendonck and a close collaborator of Pierre-Joseph Redouté, Bessa developed a style that blended scientific precision with exquisite pictorial sensitivity.

H. Goodchild – Shadows and Structure: 

Roland Green (1890–1972) was a British wildlife artist and illustrator celebrated for his energetic depictions of birds in motion. Unlike many of his contemporaries who worked largely from specimens or museum collections, Green spent much of his life observing birds directly in the field—particularly in the wetlands and woodlands of Norfolk, England.

Henrik Grönvold (1858–1940) was a Danish-born zoological illustrator whose career flourished in London, where he contributed some of the most refined bird illustrations of the early 20th century. With a background in both taxidermy and art, Grönvold developed a distinctive approach that married anatomical precision with aesthetic sensibility.

A Dutch-born illustrator whose work laid the foundations of modern ornithological art. Renowned for his exquisite attention to detail and deep understanding of avian anatomy, Keulemans produced more than 1000 illustrations during his career, many of which were published in some of the most influential natural history books of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

A Life Between Science and Style. Séguy’s art is more than decoration. It is a reminder that even in the age of machines, nature remains the most enduring source of pattern, color, and wonder.

In the heart of the Art Nouveau movement, Eugène Grasset stood out as one of the first artists to merge scientific observation with ornamental beauty. With his celebrated 1896 work La Plante et ses Applications Ornementales, Grasset created a bridge between the botanical world and the applied arts, transforming natural plant forms into decorative masterpieces. In this article, we introduce the man behind the work and the enduring relevance of this iconic collection.

A scientific monograph that became a gallery of natural elegance. The German biologist Ernst Haeckel was fascinated by medusae, the umbrella-shaped animals commonly called jellyfish. For Haeckel, whose imagination was shaped in the Romantic era, medusae expressed the exuberant yet fragile beauty of Nature.