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“Tulipan, columbine, french anemone, common hyacinth, roses and marigold.
A little bouquet in an open window. The impossible represented in a unity of time. “
This quotation is taken from my book, The Grand Tour [1], presenting my sampled photos of masterpieces from Europe’s art collections and museums.
The quote is originally from another book, I do not remember the title, and describes a floral painting by Ambrocius Bosschaert the Elder (1573 – 1621) “Little bouquet in an arched window”
In Bosschaerts painting something is hidden beneath the surface of obvious beauty: Flowers from all parts of the Dutch colonial rule are brought in, placed in a vase and set to flourish simultaneously. The beautiful flowers as an image of power and wealth.
Now again I refer to the painting. The current series, RE-flower 10, is all bouquets. Beautiful and – as in Bosshaert’s painting – with an ambition of “something more”.
December, 2016
Jan Skovgård
Ps:
The current bouquets partly consist of unspecified plants from “the open land”, and partly of cut flowers from Meny, a nearby convenience store. In contrast to the above quote I have not looked up the names of the respective plants and flowers, but for those of you who do not know the grocery chain Meny, I can say that it was previously called Favorit and later on SuperBest. Perhaps someone can remember how the grocery chain in the years 2009-14 was repeatedly exposed in the media in an unflattering light. Something to do with poor hygiene and repackaging of old meat.
[1] The Grand Tour, Husets Forlag, Århus, 1994, ISBN 87-7483-321-9
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