New Book Explores How Botanical World Changed the Trajectory of Art

Plant life is not static, nor is it separate from human life—rather, it is an ever-evolving interconnection between humans, animals, and other life forms.

Plants are intimately and indissolubly bound to the earth from which they emerge. It is tempting to believe that their lives might be limited by this, that they are simpler and hence less fascinating than those of humans. But much of what plants are and do stays invisible to us or simply eludes our perception. Many plants, desired for their aesthetic beauty, sought after for their medicinal properties, harvested for their scents and flavors, or grown as essential material resources, are entwined with our existence. In art it is no different: plants have played a critical role. Yet despite their significant material and conceptual contributions, plants have been sidelined in the commentary of art historians and critics.

Botanical Revolutions (Getty Publications, $35) offers a global history of plants in art, focusing on the crucial moments that signaled the formation of new movements and styles, as well as the creation of media that could not have occurred without the involvement of and interaction with the vegetal world. This volume also employs principles central to changes in the humanities to recover and link past moments, fragments, and relations in which plants have enabled us to express our creative potential or changed the course of art by playing important roles in the advancement of movements and styles, or the invention of new media.

In this fascinating and beautifully illustrated book, author Giovanni Aloi delves deeply into the history and representation of plants in art, advocates for a change in our relationship with the botanical world, and presents an alternative history of art that foregrounds the truly indispensable contributions of plants.