Graves International Art - Louis van Houtte

Title: "Portulaca Grandiflora (Moss-Rose Purslane)", "Gloxinias (Gloxinia) (red)", "Convolvulus Tricolor (Dwarf Morning-Glory)", "Rose Faune de Perse (Rose)", and "Gloxinias (Gloxinia) (purple)"
Portfolio: Flore des Serres et des Jardins de L'Europe (Flowers of the Greenhouses and Gardens of Europe)
Year: 1845-1855
Medium: Set of Five Original Hand-Colored Lithographs
Limited edition: Volume I (1845) - 500; All remaining Volumes - 1,500
Sheet size (each): approx. 10" x 6.75"
Image size (each): approx. 8" x 5.5"
Reference: Nissen BBI 2254; Sitwell - page 157
Price: SOLD

Louis Benoît van Houtte (29 June 1810, in Ypres - 9 May 1876, in Ghent) was a Belgian horticulturist who was with the Jardin Botanique de Brussels between 1836 and 1838 and is best known for the journal "Flore des Serres et des Jardins de L'Europe", produced with Charles Lemaire and M. Scheidweiler, an extensive work boasting more than 2,000 hand-colored plates in 23 volumes published between 1845 and 1883.

Early in his career, van Houtte worked in Brussels for the ministry of finance. All his leisure time was spent on botany at the botanical garden and private estates. He was on good terms with men like the peony breeder M. Parmentier of Enghien, the Knight Parthon de Von, and d’Enghien and befriended local gardeners.

Together with Charles François Antoine Morren, van Houtte founded "L'Horticulteur Belge" (1833-1838), a monthly magazine, in November 1832. The 119 hand-colored plates that were published are engravings or sometimes lithographs. There are also 78 plates showing delicate engravings of views. This period in Belgium after 1830 is characterized by a close collaboration between nurseries and the foremost botanists, allowing the English stranglehold on horticulture to be broken.

Title: "Cobaea Scandens (Cup and Saucer Vine)", "Salvia Roezli (Sierra Gooseberry)", "Hyacinthus Orientals (Hyacinth)", "Campanula Nobilis (Spotted Bellflower)", and "Jacinthe (Hyacinth)"
Portfolio: Flore des Serres et des Jardins de L'Europe (Flowers of the Greenhouses and Gardens of Europe)
Year: 1845-1855
Medium: Set of Five Original Hand-Colored Lithographs
Limited edition: Volume I (1845) - 500; All remaining Volumes - 1,500
Sheet size (each): approx. 10" x 6.75"
Image size (each): approx. 8.5" x 5.5"
Reference: Nissen BBI 2254; Sitwell - page 157
Price: SOLD