Overview

Highlighting an enduring interest in natural history from the 16th century to the present, this gorgeous book explores depictions of the natural world, from centuries-old manuscripts to contemporary artists' books. It examines the scientific pursuits in the 18th and 19th centuries that resulted in the collecting and cataloguing of the natural world. It also investigates the aesthetically oriented activities of self-taught naturalists in the 19th century, who gathered flowers, ferns, seaweed, feathers, and other naturalia into albums. Examples of 20th- and 21st-century artists' books, including those of Eileen Hogan, Mandy Bonnell, and Tracey Bush, broaden the vision of the natural world to incorporate its interaction with consumer culture and with modern technologies. Featuring dazzling illustrations, the book itself is designed to evoke a fieldwork notebook, and features a collection pocket and ribbon markers. Published in association with the Yale Center for British Art Exhibition Schedule: Yale Center for British Art (05/15/14–08/10/14)

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9780300204247

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Reviews

'There's something charmingly retro about this volume, which is deliberately designed to evoke an old-fashioned fieldwork book, complete with a pocket in the back for your own notes and specimens.'--Caroline Bugler, V&A Magazine --Caroline Bugler V&A Magazine (07/01/2014)

'The sheer beauty of some of the watercolours, prints and paper-cuts is astounding. They make me long to sit for days in the Yale library and leaf through the other pages. And the book is flawlessly produced, right down to the pocket at the back to tuck your own cuttings in, and ribbon markers in Farrow & Ball hues.'--Augusta Pownall, The Spectator --Augusta Pownall The Spectator (07/26/2014)

'The sheer beauty of some of the watercolours, prints and paper-cuts is astounding. They make me long to sit for days in the Yale library and leaf through the other pages. And the book is flawlessly produced, right down to the pocket at the back to tuck your own cuttings in, and ribbon markers in Farrow & Ball hues.'-Augusta Pownall, The Spectator -- Augusta Pownall The Spectator 'There's something charmingly retro about this volume, which is deliberately designed to evoke an old-fashioned fieldwork book, complete with a pocket in the back for your own notes and specimens.'-Caroline Bugler, V&A Magazine -- Caroline Bugler V&A Magazine 'Of Green Leaf, Bird and Flower is more like an album: whimsical, eclectic and full of surprises.'-Susan Owens, World of Interiors -- Susan Owens World of Interiors '[A] wonderful book that juxtaposes images made at different points in time to encourage you to think about the choices that an artist makes when depicting nature and that leaves you marvelling at the skill with which mere pigment on paper can be used to mimic the bloom on the skin of a plum, the texture of oak bark and such commonplace miracles of nature as thistledown and dandelion.'-Salon Salon A book in which science and art blissfully hold hands ... [Its] wonderfully unruly heart ... bolsters the notion that amateur field guides are living books ... personal works, in the same way that Emily Dickinson's poems are personal... 'Green Leaf' is all about the joys of looking hard. -Dana Jennings, New York Times -- Dana Jennings New York Times

'The sheer beauty of some of the watercolours, prints and paper-cuts is astounding. They make me long to sit for days in the Yale library and leaf through the other pages. And the book is flawlessly produced, right down to the pocket at the back to tuck your own cuttings in, and ribbon markers in Farrow & Ball hues.'-Augusta Pownall, The Spectator -- Augusta Pownall The Spectator 'There's something charmingly retro about this volume, which is deliberately designed to evoke an old-fashioned fieldwork book, complete with a pocket in the back for your own notes and specimens.'-Caroline Bugler, V&A Magazine -- Caroline Bugler V&A Magazine 'Of Green Leaf, Bird and Flower is more like an album: whimsical, eclectic and full of surprises.'-Susan Owens, World of Interiors -- Susan Owens World of Interiors A book in which science and art blissfully hold hands ... [Its] wonderfully unruly heart ... bolsters the notion that amateur field guides are living books ... personal works, in the same way that Emily Dickinson's poems are personal... 'Green Leaf' is all about the joys of looking hard. -Dana Jennings, New York Times -- Dana Jennings New York Times 'Of Green Leaf, Bird, and Flower is a lavishly illustrated compilation of essays about the Yale Center for British Art... This beautiful tome... is a fine overview of a truly magnificent British obsession.'-Louise Fabiani, TLS -- Louise Fabiani TLS Stunning ... an astonishing array of works ... showing us the ingenious ways artists observe and depict the natural world. The volume's carefully orchestrated rhythm of images and words reveals Fairman's fruitful collaboration with book designer Miko McGinty. Short texts, sprinkled throughout ... offer lively commentary on the beautifully photographed plates. -Brooke Hodge, Artforum -- Brooke Hodge Artforum

Author Information

Elisabeth Fairman is senior curator of rare books and manuscripts at the Yale Center for British Art.

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