In the history of art, the flower has moved from symbolic and decorative to, with some modern artists, a complete character in itself.
A persona, an identity.
A living being to be looked at, studied, admired, understood.
Van Gogh’s Sunflowers are an early example.
These crazy golden flowers are alive and unique. They cannot be replaced by any other sunflower - the picture wouldn’t remain the same.
Van Gogh’s Sunflowers have character.
Since then, many modern artists have seen and depicted flowers as persona, including photographers Irving Penn and Robert Mapplethorpe.
In the latter’s ‘Double Jack in the Pulpit’ we see two flowers who are no longer talking to each other.
Robert Mapplethorpe, Double Jack-in-the-Pulpit, 1988, ©Robert Mapplethorpe
Penn’s portrait of a dying poppy, ‘Poppy: showgirl’ depicts a beautiful demise.
Irving Penn, Poppy: Showgirl, London, 1968 - © Condé Nast Publications, Inc.
Today, try to see flowers as irreplaceable, unique living beings. And capture them in this way.
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