The Art of Flower Arrangement

This book is something far more than a manual for arranging flowers.

Beverley Nichols does not hesitate to describe flower arranging as an art – a minor art, perhaps, but a fascinating one nevertheless, with some similarities to music and painting. He traces the development of this art from its first beginnings in ancient Egypt and Rome, through the spring song of the Middle Ages, the discovery of the tulip, the auricula theatres of the eighteenth century and the floral arches of the Victorians, to the enthusiasm and care devoted to the subject in this century in both Europe and America.

He explores with wit and charm the parallels between flower paintings and flower arrangements, drawing examples from medieval miniatures, the golden age of the Dutch flower paintings, the French Impressionists, and the modern school. He examines the Chinese and Japanese traditions. He considers artificial flowers and the exquisite miniature jewelled creations of Fabergé. He views with a candid eye the excesses of some exponents of the modern cult of flower arrangement.

No happier choice for such a book could be found than Beverley Nichols.

He brings to the subject a deep love for flowers, an appreciation of art in its many manifestations through thin as est and a sympathy for the ‘little things’ life that give colour and grace and happiness to civilised existence.

The Art of Flower Arrangement is illustrated with 80 pages of superb colour plates of flower arrangements, some specially arranged for this book and others drawn from the work of painters from many periods of art.

William McLaren has designed decorative chapter headings to symbolise the spirit of each chapter of the text.