Francis (Franz) Bauer was employed at Kew Gardens as the 'Botanick Painter to His Majesty'.
He is rated by Wilfrid Blunt as the greatest botanical artist of all time
He is rated by Wilfrid Blunt as the greatest botanical artist of all time
About Francis (Franz) Bauer: Biography
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In terms of a botanical illustration timeline, Bauer is an exact contemporary of Pierre-Joseph Redoute. He was born a year earlier and they both died in the same year.
Born Franz Bauer on 14 March 1758 in Feldsberg in Lower Austria (now Valtice in the Czech Republic). His father was the Court Painter and died when his three children were infants. He was the older brother (by two years) of the much-travelled and renowned Ferdinand Bauer who was also a botanical artist Franz's initial involvement with botanical art was through the illustration of plants for the Professor of Botany and director of the Botanic Garden of the University of Vienna. Franz illustrated works by the Baron Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin and his son Baron Joseph Franz von Jacquin at the Schonbrunn Imperial Gardens. In 1788 he travelled to England - by way of Prague, Dresden, Halle, Berlin, Gottingen, Mainz, Leiden, Utrect and Paris. When he arrived in London he was made very welcome by Sir Joseph Banks. Sir Joseph Banks recognised the talents of Bauer. He employed him as a botanical artist at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew on an annual salary of £300. He was known by the title 'Botanick Painter to His Majesty'. In effect, Bauer would find much to make him want to stay. Apart from the high salary and regard paid to his paintings, he was now able to develop his art in his own way, a well stocked botanical garden and new plants arriving all the time. Plus botanists to work with. He settled at Kew where he was to remain for the rest of his life. In England he was known by the anglicised version of his name Francis Bauer. The drawings he made while at Kew have much scientific value and at the same time are also a historic record of the development of botanical art, plant science and Kew Gardens at a time when it was expanding rapidly. |
Portrait of Franz Bauer by an unlnown painter
Bauer was elected a Fellow of the Linnaean Society in 1804 and additionally became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1821.
He died at Kew on 11 December 1840 at the age of 82 and was buried locally in Kew Parish Church - St Anne's on Kew Green - next to Zoffany and Gainsborough. There is a monument to him inside the church. REFERENCE:
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The Bauers - Masters of Botanical Illustration
by Hans Walter Lack This is the first comprehensive biography of the brothers Franz and Ferdinand who between them made an enormous contribution to botanical illustration - plus their elder brother Josef who was the court painter to the Prince of Lichtenstein. the book includes many illustrations of their work. |
 
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Hardcover: 528 pages
Publisher: Prestel; First edition published: 1 Nov. 2015 |
from Amazon.comArtistic Practice
Early Years
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He initially learned to illustrate plants while in the care and under the instruction of Norbert Boccius (1729-1806), the prior pf the monastery and hospital in Feldsberg. He and his brother Ferdinand produced 2,250 illustrations which are now contained in 14 volumes in the Liechtensteinische Billiothek in Vienna.
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Franz later became a flower painter for Count Dietrichstein and was then introduced to Nicholas von Joaquin (1727-1817). He and his brother were employed to illustrate new-found and rare plants. They both worked on illustrations for Icones Plantarum rariorum (3 volumes 1981-1795).
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They learned that botanical draughtsmanship demands understanding of the plant figured, even down to minute detail, as well as its portrayal with accuracy and grace; thereby they were initiated into the intricacies of plant form. Under such supervision they became accustomed to p[recise observation and developed superb techniques for drawing and colouring.
The Orchid Painting of Franz Bauer
The Franz Bauer section of an exhibition of botanical artwork in the permanent collection of the Natural History Museum in London. Part of "The Bauer Brothers: Masters of Scientific Illustration" exhibition until February 2017
The Kew Years
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Bauer's botanical artwork sets a standard in terms of quality and style of illustration.
For 40 years, Francis Bauer illustrated the newly discovered plants from around the world that were introduced to England via Kew, where they were grown and studied for the first time in a scientific manner. His early preference was to complete all illustrations using watercolour wash alone. He is considered by many to have perfected the art of botanical illustration. Of the two brothers, Francis was the one that leaned most towards the science of botanical illustration and working from plant material brought back from explorations (while Ferdinand created illustrations which on explorations to find new plant material) He was creating botanical illustrations at Kew at a time when the science of botany and the identification of plants were making some great advances. Just as DNA is a critical factor in identifying plant species today, in the early 19th century, plant anatomy was considered to be crucial to the understanding and identification of plant species. He became a highly skilled botanist and was probably the first botanical illustrator to create very detailed illustrations of the anatomical structure of a plant based on plant dissections and the use of microscopes. It's also thought that he may have used the newly developed camera lucida, to help him make very accurate drawings. In his later years, his routine practice was work with the Linnean classification and he included anatomical dissections of the reproductive parts of a plant alongside the complete specimen. His microscopic drawings are now as famous as his portrayals of the complete plant and have significant scientific value. His drawings include pollen specimens at different levels of magnification. |
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From "Illustrations of orchidaceous plants" by Francis Bauer; with notes and prefatory remarks by John Lindley
A number of his drawings are also held in the Library at Kew. Some of his earlier drawings are held in the library at Gottingen University in Germany.
REFERENCE:
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This is an early botanical illustration Ferns by Francis Bauer - as seen on the digital interative display in the "The Bauer Brothers: Masters of Scientific Illustration" at the Natural History Museum - See more at: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/galleries-and-museum-map/images-of-nature.html#sthash.gS1ZyCLh.dpuf"
The Bauer Brothers: Masters of Scientific Illustration in the Images of Nature Gallery at the Natural History Museum (7 November 2015 - 26 February 2017) included a digital display of some of his drawings. These could be magnified and moved around on the viewer, allowing you to see very clearly the extent of magnification he used to draw some of his specimens. The large image above includes magnifications of x50 and x200
Artwork
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He provided illustrations for a number of botanical books, You can see digital versions of these books in the next section.
The Franz Bauer Drawings Collection This major collection of artwork was bequeathed to King George IV by Franz Bauer and presented to the British Museum by Queen Victoria in 1841. The collection was transferred to the Natural History Museum in 1881. The collection in the Natural History Library in South Kensington includes:
He contributed plates to Hortus Kewensis, or, A catalogue of the plants cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew /by William Aiton .Printed for George Nicol, Bookseller to his Majesty,1789. Illustrations from Delineation of exotic plants cultivated in the Royal Garden at Kew (1796) by Franz Andreas Bauer (1758-1840). Held in the Botany Library at the Natural History Museum, London. The Orchids Plate 11 from British Orchids - Plants, Flowering Plants at The Natural History Museum, London Plate 11 from British Orchids. Watercolour from British Orchids (1792-1817), by Franz Andreas Bauer (1758-1840). Held in the Botany Library at the Natural History Museum, London.. Picture, Image, Photo, Photograph, The Natural History Museum, London The Strelitzias Bauer painted a number of illustrations of plants of the genus Strelitzia from South Africa between 1818 - 1820 including his 1818 work Strelitzia depicta. Coloured figures of the known species of the genus Strelitzia are included in the drawings in the Banksian Library'.
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Erica massoni L.f. By Franz Bauer (1758-1840) (Delineations of Exotick Plants)
Source: Wikimedia Commons
His paintings and drawings are extremely detailed illustrations of flower dissections, sometimes at the microscopic level, and his attention to detail in all aspects of his art is highly regarded. REFERENCE:
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These are the images by Franz Bauer that you can view using the digital display in "The Bauer Brothers: Masters of Scientific Illustration" exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London.
You tap the screen to select the image you want to see and you can then move the image and magnify what you can see.
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The Orchid Paintings of Franz Bauer
by Joyce Stewart (Orchid Fellow, Kew) and William T Stearn (Biographer) Franz Bauer gew fascinated by orchids while he worked at Kew. He used the opportunities presented by the arrival of new orchids and his skills with the microscope and draughtsmanship tp explore and portray these plants - and their pollen grains and spores - in minute and exquisite detail. His plates are either paintings of the whole plant or the portrayal of the complete dissection and enlargement of the reproductive mechanisms |
 
This is the first book to focus on the work of Franz Bauer. |
Hardcover (160 pages)
First published: The Herbert Press in association with the Natural History Museum 1st edition: 1993 Current edition Timber Press The Orchid Paintings of Franz Bauer
from Amazon UKThe Orchid Paintings of Franz Bauer
 from Amazon.com |
"Fructification" - Plate 1 in "Illustrations of Orchidaceous Plants" by Francis Bauer
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REFERENCE:
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Franz Bauer's publications
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Delineations of Exotick Plants cultivated in the Royal Garden at Kew.
Drawn and coloured and the Botanical characters displayed according to the Linnean System by Francis Bauer. Published by William Aiton, d.c. (Preface by Sir Joseph Banks.) 1796-83
The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants illustrated by drawings on stone from the sketches of Francis Bauer by John Lindley. London, Ridgways and Treuttel, Wurtz, 1830-1838.
Genera filicum; or Illustrations of the ferns, and other allied genera; from the original coloured drawings of the late Francis Bauer; with additions and descriptive letterpress, by Sir William Jackson Hooker. London, H. G. Bohn, 1842.
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Cypripedium calceolus, Lady's slipper orchid. By Franics Bauer. Watercolour from British Orchids (1792-1817) via Wikimedia Commons
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Commemoration at St Anne's Church, Kew Green
The Tablet erected in St Anne's Church at Kew Green where Bauer is buried.
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“In memory of Francis Bauer Esq.re, FRS & FLS, & c. Botanical Painter to His Majesty George 3rd. And Resident Draughtsman for fifty years to the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew, where he devoted himself to the advancement of natural science under the magnificent patronage of Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. the President of the Royal Society. In the delineation of plants he united the accuracy of the profound naturalist with the skill of the accomplished artist to a degree which has been only equaled by his brother Ferdinand and in microscopical drawing he was altogether unrivaled. In this branch of his most useful labours, the world will ever contemplate with admiration his elaborate illustrations of animal and vegetable structures, especially those which are preserved in the British Museum, and in the University of Göttingen. He was born 4th of October 1758 at Feldsperg in Austria, and came to England from Vienna with the Baron Joseph Jacquin in 1788. He settled at Kew in 1790, where he continued to live in the enjoyment of an exalted reputation, and in the affection and respect of all to whom his generous character, his unassuming manner, and his deep religious feelings were known until 11 December 1840 when he died at the age of 82. While the works of Francis Bauer are his imperishable monument friendship inscribes this record on his honored tomb. |
St Anne's Church, Kew Green - viewed from the path to the Herbarium
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1500-1900
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1900-2015
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