93b

Commelin Figure 93bSA

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100b

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58

Commelin Figure 58PPH

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34

Commelin Figure 34PAR

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109

Commelin Figure 109VAFAF

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70

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84

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54

Commelin Figure 54EAFF

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1

Commelin Figure 1RA

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78

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32b

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41

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5

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Beaux Arts

http://www.beauxartsart.com/about.html
The finest collection of 16th-19th century antiquarian prints and rare maps. 18th-19th century oil paintings, watercolors and vintage posters. Contemporary works on paper feature original monotypes, etchings, collages, paintings and lithographs by nationally prominent artists.
















Beaux Arts
1505 Hi Line Drive Dallas, Texas 75207


HOURS: 9am - 6pm Monday - Friday
12pm - 5pm Saturday

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About the Artist

CYNTHIA PADILLA has introduced Botanical Art/Naturalist Illustration/Field Sketching programs to prestigious universities; major museums, gardens and arboreta; and related art, nature, and historic societies. Called for research projects, curatorial duties, book reviews, lectures and as a travel leader on sketching tours worldwide, Padilla has sketched rare orchids in Thailand, wandered abandoned courtyards in India, and traveled the Central American rain forests to document its flora and fauna.

ACADEMIC AFFILIATIONS
Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX. Adjunct Arts Instructor, 1999- present
Collin College, Plano, TX. Adjunct Arts Instructor, 2005-present
Brookhaven College, Dallas, TX. Adjunct Arts Instructor, 2002-04.
University of North Texas, Denton, TX. Adjunct Arts Instructor, 1998.
University of North Texas, Denton, TX. Visiting Critic, '99, '96, '97
Texas Womens University, Denton, TX. Visiting Critic, ’97.

SELECT WORKSHOP CLIENTS
New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, Albuquerque, NM. Aug 07,08,09.
Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, NM. Aug 2004, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09.
Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, MO. Apr 2007 & 09.
Powell Gardens, Kansas City, MO. Oct 2006, Apr & Nov ‘07, 08, 09.
Art Workshops In Guatemala, Antigua, Guatemala. Feb 2007, 08, 09.
Pagosa Springs Art Council, Pagosa Springs, CO. Aug 2003 & 09.
Creative Arts Center, Dallas, TX. Dec 2008, 09.
Houston Museum of Natural Science, TX. Oct 2006 & 07, 08.
Red Cedar Garden, Stilwell, KS. Apr 2006, 07, 09.
New Pond Farm, West Redding, CT. June 2006 & 07.
Ozark Folk School, Arkansas State Park, Apr 2006.
Connecticut College Arboretum, New London, CT. June 2006.
Southampton Art School, Ontario, Canada. July 2006.
Tohono Chul Park, Tucson, AZ. Mar 2006.
Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, MA. June 2005.
Polly Hill Arboretum, Martha’s Vineyard, MA. June 2005.
Lake Austin Spa Resort, Austin, TX. Apr 2005.

CURATORIAL EXPERIENCE
Powell Gardens, Kansas City, MO. “Orchids & Hydrangeas,” 2006
Southern Methodist Univ, Dallas, TX. "A Passion for Flowers-An Eye For Detail," 2001

SELECT BOTANICAL SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Powell Gardens, Kansas City, MO. 2006 & 07
Northlake College, TX. “Fruit Flower Insect”--July 2007.
Connecticut College, New London, CT. “Painting & Drawing on Tradition,” May 2006
New Pond Farm for Highstead Arboretum, Redding, CT. “Seeing Nature” June 2006
Mercer Arboretum, Humble, TX. "A Passion For Tropicals-An Eye For Detail," May ‘05
Brookhaven College, Dallas, TX. "In The Details-A Passion For Flowers," 2001.

CONTACT: Email: padilladesigns@juno.com International Botanical Arts Workshops: http://fruitflowerinsect.blogspot.com/

About the Engravings

Created in Amsterdam between 1697 and 1701, these hand-colored copper plate engravings are from Horti Medici Amstelodamensis Rariorum tam Orientalis, quam Occidentalis Indiae, aliarumque Peregrinarum Plantarum.

This magnificent record of the exotic plants in the Amsterdam Physic Garden was produced by its director, Jan Commelin.

The gardens were undergoing substantial enlargement during this time mainly due to introductions of plants from the Dutch East and West Indies by the Dutch Indies Company.

This expensive and finely illustrated folio reflected the interest shown by the Dutch in the flora of their colonial possessions and was Commelin's most important contribution to botanical knowledge.

© 2008 Beaux Arts

Why These Prints Came About?

A Print is, in essence, a pictorial image produced by a process that allows it to be multiplied. Engravings, etchings, lithographs, woodcuts and offset lithographs are all types of prints. Of importance here is to distinguish modern offset lithographs, or photomechanical prints, from what have become known as "original" antique or antiquarian prints. We call these "fine art" prints.

Since Gutenberg first invented the moveable type printing press in the 1400's, man has strived to improve the means used to illustrate printed materials. Today's photomechanical printing processes have made obsolete all previous methods for creating multiple image prints. The prints derived from these old methods are what Beaux Arts and others consider fine art prints because of the amount of effort and artistry require to produce them.

Of further interest is to understand why these prints came about. It is almost impossible for our modern society to fully understand how limited the market was for printed books in the 16th through 19th centuries. There was almost no middle class anywhere in the world until the 19th century. Wealth and literacy was confined to the royal families, the nobility and the few scientists and chosen intellectuals. It was of little consequence to printers anyway since an illustrated book edition of as few as 200 copies was a gargantuan effort. (One large copper plate engraved illustration could take two or three months for an artisan to complete.) Illustrated books were usually confined to the arts and sciences. These included natural history (birds, animals, fish, botany, etc.), travel and archaeology, architecture, medicine and art. The text was printed as one endeavor with lavish illustrations produced separately, then both were bound together in book form. The buyers were men of learning, wealthy patrons, royalty and nobility, government institutions and museums.
Because this era occurred when it did, virtually all of the great illustrated books were produced in the wealthy nations of Europe. One fabulous exception was America's own Birds of North America by John James Audubon though even this book was eventually taken from the American printers and shipped to England for the completion of most of the plates.

Today, modern technology has given us advanced photomechanical techniques that are used for virtually all printed and illustrated materials. Even if craftsmen could be gathered together to create engraved, etched or lithographed illustrations, the cost would be astronomical. These gorgeous old prints that have miraculously survived the centuries are truly rare!

© 2008 Beaux Arts.

Print Terms

COPPER PLATE- The flat plate utilized by artisans for the different forms of intaglio printing such as engraving and etching. Because copper is a soft metal, the carved image lost its detail gradually as each impression was pulled, limiting the quantity created. Few plates have survived since most were either burnished smooth or melted into new plates for re-use.

EMBOSSED (Plate Mark)- The pressure required to transfer the ink on a lithographic stone or an etched or engraved plate is so great that the paper tends to show the edge of the stone or plate impression. Occasionally the paper was trimmed before binding and the embossed plate mark does not show.

ENGRAVING- The method of incising lines, with a burin (a sharp pointed instrument), into a copper plate to create an image. The engraver carves the image in reverse to compensate for the reversal onto the paper. The recessed lines hold the ink which is then picked up by damp paper as it is run through the press. Engraving provides detail that no modern technology has been able to duplicate. It was developed in the 1400's.

FOXING- The brown spots on the paper of many old prints caused by acid burns and fungoid growth. Prevalent in many papers beginning in the mid-19th century through the 19th century. Treatment with a deacidifier usually arrests the condition.

HAND COLOUR- Early printing was not possible with color. Colorization was achieved after the image outline was printed with black waterproof ink. Separate artists were then required to apply watercolor or gouache in washes over the print.

NUMBERING- A number such as 22/50 on a print means it is the 20th in a limited edition of 50. After the artist has pulled 50 good prints, the plate is deeply scarred or the word "cancelled" is scored into the plate to destroy it. The limited edition print is not found before 1880. It is to be distinguished from signed and numbered photomechanical prints of today that are not directly produced by the artist.

OFFSET LITHOGRAPHY- The photomechanical printing process used today. The technology has few limitations enabling huge quantities to be produced. The process has not duplicated the brilliancy and detail of hand-painted etchings, engravings and lithographs. The image is created by separating the image into cyan, magenta, black and yellow dots that, when combined, give full color images. Under magnification the dots are visible and are used as a positive identification of the process. Developed in the United States in the first decade of the 20th century.

QUALITY- The quality of a print is a function of three factors: the condition of the printing plate or stone; the skill with which it was inked and pulled; and the care taken through the years to preserve it. Earlier impressions were naturally better than later ones. Prints previously framed and exposed to UV light are not usually in as good condition as those recently pulled from a book.

RAG PAPER- Early prints used paper made from cotton rags. Before the 1800's, rag paper had distinguishing lines formed by the screen the paperwas pressed and dried on. In the early 19th century wove paper was developed which eliminated the line patterns. The 100% rag paper used has the potential to last for centuries while the wood pulp, chemically treated paper of today is basically inferior in durability and deteriorates quickly.

RESTRIKE- Any print made from the original plate after the original edition. Less desirable than an original but superior to a photomechanical reproduction in terms of authenticity and rarity. Usually, but not necessarily, inferior to the original impressions.

© 2008 Beaux Arts