Lingua Flora

For thousands of years, artists and designers around the world have attempted to capture the beauty of flowers in their work. Their choice of subjects and their approaches to depicting them reveal the effects of different cultural movements on humans’ relationships with nature. Drawn mostly from Telfair Museums’ collection of fine and decorative art from Europe and the United States, this exhibition examines the roles of flowers in the arts in the 18th through 20th centuries.

During this period, advances in botany made single samples of flowers and plants popular motifs. Global trade encouraged the exchange of ideas and expanded possibilities for rendering flowers in design. Moreover, as people moved to cities, took
jobs in industries, and became distanced from farms, forests, and other settings in nature, they began to appreciate its beauty even more. Flowers became an essential part of home décor as well as symbols of sentiments. Because so many European
cultures associate flowers with women, their applications in the arts often relate to women’s activities, including in science, literature, and the household. Each approach to floral subjects reveals a shift in views of nature, as flowers and plants became curious objects to collect, share, and give new values and meanings.

This exhibition is organized by Telfair Museums and curated by Elyse D. Gerstenecker, PhD, curator of decorative arts.