About the Author About the Illustrator Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759-1840)
Pierre-Joseph Redouté was born to a Flemish family of decorative painters. As
a young man he went to Paris, where he began painting the flowers of the royal
gardens. His detailed etchings caught the attention of botanists who taught
him more about the anatomy of plants and artists who introduced him to a new
watercolor technique for illustrating flowers. Marie Antoinette hired Redouté
to decorate the walls of her chÃteau. By the late 1790s Redouté had become the
most famous and sought after flower painter in Europe. Empress Josephine
invited him to come to ChÃteau de Malmaison to paint the flowers in her
magnificent garden, which held over 200 varieties of roses. Between 1817 and
1824 Redouté published a three-volume collection of his rose paintings called
Les Rose, his most famous publication. Since roses were Redouté s trademark,
we have included four of his rose paintings in this Botanical Inspirations
deck. Read more