Photos emailed 7-3

1 ½ col   heliconia

Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759–1840), Heliconia humilis from Les Lilacées, 1802–16, colored stipple engraving.

1 ½ col   le cheremolia

Étienne Denisse (active 1814–57), Le Chérémolia from Flore d’Amérique, 1843–46, chromolithograph.

MUST RUN 7-13

A CARIBBEAN ‘PARADISE IN PRINT’ AT NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN w/2 cuts

avv/gs set 7-3 #705438

NEW YORK CITY — For centuries, the Caribbean has been identified with romantic landscapes, brightly colored flowers and delicious fruits. On view through August 19 at the New York Botanical Garden, “Paradise in Prints” presents a display of rarely seen Caribbean-related illustrated works from the collections of the LuEsther T. Mertz Library.

Folio editions and rare books, as well as original watercolors by artists associated with the Botanical Garden, bring to life 500 years of Caribbean history and culture. Following the Spanish conquest, European explorers recorded and celebrated their plant discoveries in publications depicting regional flora.

The images capture the exotic beauty of the plants, topography and natural history of the region. Primarily intended to classify and describe the plants for scientific inquiry and economic use, these images show the Caribbean through the eyes of the early explores and colonists.

Highlighting both the Caribbean’s past and present, the exhibition is a testament to the importance of art in the service of scientific research and exploration. “Paradise in Print” offers an opportunity to appreciate the Caribbean’s fine flora within the context of its rich history and culture.

Widely known today as a tropical paradise, the Caribbean has a varied and complex flora. Native American tribes cultivated plants from other parts of the Americas, including cassava, peppers and corn, along with the native regional fruits. Many of the plants commonly associated with the Caribbean region are not actually native to the area. The arrival of the Spanish in the Fifteenth Century added many crops from the Old World, such as rice, citrus fruits and sugarcane.

Major works in the exhibition include:

*Mark Catesby’s “The natural history of Carolina, Florida and the Bahamas Island,” 1731–43. Catesby, an Eighteenth Century British naturalist, was the first to produce a full-color natural history of British possessions in North America. Beginning in 1712, he embarked on two scientific expeditions to the southern colonies of British North America. Too poor to hire engravers, Catesby personally translated his watercolors into 220 plates of birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects and mammals.

*F.R. de Tussac’s “Flora Antillarum,” 1808. Published in four volumes, Tussac’s work is a comprehensive historical collection of plant species of the Antilles. Tussac spent 15 years in the region studying vegetation and was director of the Botanical Garden in Angiers, France, from 1816 to 1826.

*Etienne Denisse’s “Flore d’Amerique,” 1843–46. French royal lithographer Etienne Denisse (active 1814–57) worked for the botanical garden of the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris. He lived for many years in the French West Indies, employed by the government to illustrate plants and collect horticultural specimens. “Flore d’Amerique” created a sensation when first released; the more than 200 hand-colored lithographs included many species considered exotic at the time.

“Paradise in Print” is part of a larger celebration of Caribbean flora and culture at the Botanical Garden, collectively known as Caribbean Gardens: Journey to Paradise. Other components include a Caribbean flower show in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory and a program of offerings featuring Caribbean horticulture, music, food, dance and other aspects of the region’s many cultures.

The conservatory’s seasonal exhibition galleries feature a Spanish courtyard garden overflowing with the lush, tropical flora of the Caribbean, including hibiscus, passionflower, bougainvillea and many more. The exhibition is an inspiring synthesis of the tradition and formality of Spanish courtyard gardens in the region and the variety and vividness of Caribbean plants.

The New York Botanical Garden is a museum of plants at Bronx River Parkway (Exit 7W) and Fordham Road. For information, 718-817-8700 or www.nybg.org.