Flower Art
Midwest Crafts
Category:
Flowers and Flower Arrangements
The Art of Arranging Flowers Around the World Part One
The Chinese
are credited with being the first people to put water in a
container of cut flowers. It seems obvious now, but when the
people in China were putting flowers in water, the rest of the
world was braiding garlands, making wreaths and flinging petals.
Japan grasped the vision of combining cut flowers, water and
containers from China with such enthusiasm and inspiration that
different schools of thought with masters who created
philosophies and design principles sprang into existence.
The Japanese culture expanded flower arranging into a meditative
practice, which had its roots in beliefs and philosophies. It
became an art form that inspired contemplation and transcended
decorative and devotional functions.
In the sixth century a Japanese emissary to China brought back
the knowledge of how to sustain life in cut floral material by
adding water. Shortly after, the first formal school of flower
arranging was established by a priest. The use of flower
arrangements spread very quickly from the priesthood and temples
to the nobility and their homes.
The Chinese people expressed balance and the interaction of
objects within dimensions in space. Japanese arrangements
consisted of the portrayal of heaven, man and earth, The designs
were constructed with tall flowers or foliage to represent
heaven, shorter ones at the bottom to represent earth and floral
material in the middle symbolized the connectedness of man with
the heavens above and earth below.
Egypt
Our knowledge of the use of flowers in Egypt comes from the
tombs, pyramids and sphinxes’ where enamels, bas-reliefs,
carvings, jewelry and even actual plant materials have been
discovered and made available for study. From these artifacts we
learn that whether floral material was placed in bowls or formed
into head wreaths, garlands or collars for honored guests,
flowers and berries were combined in regimented, precise rows,
not overlapped or casually collected. The colors were sharply
segregated.
During the years 2800 to 28 BC, the use of flowers in religious
ceremonies, for decorative purposes in the home and for personal
adornment was a highly important aspect of the culture.
Flowers were so abundant they were shipped to Rome. Water
lilies, lotus, acacia, roses, violets, Madonna lilies,
narcissus, jasmine and poppies were among the species commonly
grown and used for arrangements. Fruits, vines and foliage were
equally popular.
Greece and Rome
In ancient Greece (600-146 BC) floral wreaths and garlands were
the preferred use for flowers. Wreaths were placed on the brows
of living heroes, statues of gods, goddesses, famous mortals,
and were used to honor the dead. Flower petals were tossed at
festivals, ceremonies and during religious occasions.
Flowers and fruits arranged in low baskets were carried to the
banquet tables in ancient Rome where guests were crowned and
draped with massive floral wreaths and garlands. Fresh cut roses
were dropped from the ceiling in a rain of extravagant colors
and fragrance.
Byzantium and Persia
The eastern Roman Empire, located in Byzantium, developed
techniques in floral art that were preserved for us to study
within the church mosaics. Images of beautiful urns and chalices
filled with symmetrical foliage “trees” built to high, tapering
tips and decorated at regular intervals with clusters of flowers
and fruits in pure jewel-like colors were meticulously placed in
stone. The theme of art and beauty runs throughout history, and
flowers are the predominant symbol.
Europe
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire and before the
beginning of the Renaissance, little is known of flower art
until the thirteenth century, or the Gothic period. During this
era, flowers, foliage and fruits were freely used to decorate
the great cathedrals. There are tapestries, paintings and
illustrated manuscripts of the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries which show tall vases containing a few long stemmed
flowers and the making and presentation of wreaths and garlands.
With the beginning of the renaissance (1400-1600) all art
flourished. Large vases made of precious metals and stones were
crafted to contain very tall arrangements that sat upon the
floor or on windowsills. For the first time, we see natural
arrangements of flowers in un-crowded containers as well as
small, tightly concentrated bouquets.
In France, niches were designed to hold vases and urns for cut
flowers. Arrangements were placed at intervals down the center
of the dining room table, and smaller arrangements were a part
of the décor in all elegant rooms.
The English painter, William Hogarth introduced the ‘S’ shaped
or later called ‘Hogarthian curve’ to floral design. Flowers and
foliage were gently coaxed into rhythmical and symmetrical
designs that followed the curvature of the letter ‘S’.
The buffet table came into its greatest elegance during this
time. It provided the decorator with a stage for garlands,
wreaths and pyramids of flowers, sweets and fruits. Whole rooms
were lit with dozens of candles placed in tall, ornate candle
holders, and the women wore flowers in their hair, and clusters
of flowers were sewn to their silken gowns.
Flemish and Dutch artists painted pictures of seasonal material
crammed into wide lipped, low vases, large urns, cups, wall
vases and baskets. These pictorial references provide us with a
contrasting view of eastern and western preferences in floral
design.
While the western world was breaking boundaries and exploring
the feeling of freedom, growth and abundance, the eastern world
was holding the vision of balance, flow and order.
During the last half of the eighteenth century and well into the
nineteenth in Europe, Great Britain and America, a revival of
simple, classic architecture, decorations and furnishings took
place. This may have been in reaction to the extreme, flamboyant
styles of the Baroque period that had preceded.
Simple wreaths and garlands were once again worn and carried in
the classic tradition by people of fashion. Cool and muted
flower arrangements became popular, and the floral material was
artfully arranged in careful, symmetrical designs.
The great impressionist painters of the nineteenth century in
France, such as: Degas, Monet, Renoir, Cézanne and Van Gogh
added invaluable examples of flower and fruit paintings to the
art treasures of the world. They painted tables bearing vases of
blossoms, bowls of fruit and open flowers tossed carelessly on
beautiful fabrics. They artfully suggested still lives by
painting vases of flowers with other objects as integral parts
of the design. The feeling was romantic, rich, robust and
natural. Every brush stroke spoke of the sanctity of life in all
its shapes, shadows and forms.
America
Records showing the use of flowers in early America are sparse,
but one can assume that early settlers must have utilized
everyday containers like pitchers, cups and bowls to display
flowers.
In the more developed colonies, treasures were brought from
Europe and by the middle of the eighteenth century the China
trade was bringing in oriental porcelains. The home
manufacturing of glass and imported silver provided artists and
craftsmen with materials for more elegant containers.
East met the west at the close of the nineteenth century and
during the first decade of the twentieth century as the New Art
or Art Nouveau came into fashion. Japanese wallpapers, screens
and art objects depicting balance, restraint and passion blended
beautifully with the simple, elegant styles that began to
emerge.
Many bouquets were in tall vases, the flowers slightly taller
than the containers. And, due to western appreciation of
Oriental art, arrangements of flowering shrubs set in low dishes
and small, decorative bowls also became fashionable.
The art of flower arranging around the world continued
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