Saturday, April 18, 2015

Sci-Art Pedigree

This striking set of hand-painted botanical and 
insect prints was produced by Johanna Helena 
Herolt, a lesser known member of the 17th c. 
German-Dutch Merian family of artists.


The Merian dynasty of artists really began in Switzerland with Johanna Helena Herolt's grandfather, Matthäus Merian the Elder (d. 1650), a renowned engraver and publisher who married into the equally talented de Bry family of Frankfurt artist-printers. Herolt's mother was only four years of age when her father died, but with encouragement from step-father artist, Jacob Moreel, Maria Sibylla Merian [link] pursued a highly successful career in Europe and South America as an artist-scientist. She married (and later divorced) German portraitist and still life artist, Johann Andreas Graff (d. 1701),

Maria Sibylla Merian produced ground-breaking depictions of insect life cycles with associated plants, and her two daughters (including Johanna Helena Herolt, née Graaf) were intimately involved in the design, engraving and colouring of her mother's book illustrations. Herolt's other principal claim to fame was her hand-colouring contributions to the exceptional series on Amsterdam's botanical gardens, the Commelins' 'Horti Medici Amstelodamensis' [link], 1697.



Flor Solis (Sonnenblume)
Flor Solis (Sonnenblume)




Vritilaria (Schachblume)
Vritilaria (Schachblume)




Een Bloem Pot (Eine Blumenvase)
Een Bloem Pot (Eine Blumenvase)




Inula Helenium (Echter Alant)
Inula Helenium (Echter Alant)



Serpentaria
Serpentaria



Shaert en wilde Violen (Stiefmütterchen und wilde Veilchen)
Shaert en wilde Violen (Stiefmütterchen und wilde Veilchen)



Plauwe Passions Ploem (Blaue Passionsblume)
Plauwe Passions Ploem (Blaue Passionsblume)



Nooten Twe Soort (Zwei Sorten Nüsse)
Nooten Twe Soort (Zwei Sorten Nüsse)



Pflaumen, blau, rot und gelb
Pflaumen, blau, rot und gelb



Vier Animonen (Vier Anemonen)
Vier Animonen (Vier Anemonen)



Een Bloem Pot (Eine Blumenvase) a
Een Bloem Pot (Eine Blumenvase)



Aerd Bessen (Erdbeeren)
Aerd Bessen (Erdbeeren)



Geele en Roode Roosen (Gelbe und rote Rosen)
Geele en Roode Roosen (Gelbe und rote Rosen)


"Johanna Helena Herolt, born in Frankfurt, Germany, was the eldest daughter of painter, draftsman, and engraver Johann Andreas Graff (1637-1701), and well-known insect and botanical painter and nature researcher Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717). Along with her sister, Dorothea Maria Graff (1678-1743), Johanna Helena learned to paint from her renowned mother and father. 
Dr. Sam Segal [..] writes:
“Johanna Helena Herolt is, or was until recently, an underestimated artist, who had been working closely with her famous mother. She assisted her already ill mother during her last years by finishing works, sometimes signed by both. Johanna married the merchant Jacob Hendrik Herolt from Bacharach (Germany) in 1692. She went to Surinam, with her husband, in 1711 where she did what her mother had done before: collecting and drawing flowers and insects. She died after 1723, possibly in Surinam.” "[source]

2 comments:

  1. Great discovery peacay ! Simple subjects with great composition and colours. Thanks for the discovery.
    Eric

    ReplyDelete
  2. Colours in these are sublime... I always think botanical illustration looks best aged.

    ReplyDelete

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