Cissus Lindeni

Charles Antoine Lemaire prints bring the colourful plant plates of the Victorian garden into your home: camellias, rhododendrons, azaleas, agaves, bromeliads and cacti. Lemaire was a French botanist and editor who ran some of the finest illustrated horticultural journals of the nineteenth century in Paris and Ghent, and an expert on cacti. Our collection of fine art prints draws on plates published under his name.

About Charles Antoine Lemaire

Charles Antoine Lemaire was born in Paris on 1 November 1800. He studied at the University of Paris and became professor of classical literature there. His interest in plants grew through his friendship with Neumann, a horticulturist at the Museum of Natural History, and he worked for a time at a Paris nursery, building a collection of cacti, the group to which he devoted most of his life.

In 1835 the publisher Cousin asked him to edit a new gardening journal, and for years he edited Jardin Fleuriste and L'Horticulteur Universel. In 1845 he moved to Ghent to edit Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l'Europe, founded by the nurseryman Louis van Houtte, and in 1854 he took over L'Illustration Horticole, owned by Ambroise Verschaffelt, which he edited until 1870.

Lemaire wrote many papers on cacti and succulents, including Iconographie descriptive des Cactées (1841–47), and named the genus Schlumbergera, which includes the Christmas cactus. He lived in near poverty and never found a wealthy sponsor. He returned to Paris in 1870 and died there on 22 June 1871.

Style and Subjects

The plates in Lemaire's journals showed new and admired garden plants, many from the Ghent nurseries of Louis van Houtte and Ambroise Verschaffelt who owned the journals. Each shows a plant or flower in full bloom, with rich, saturated colour and fine botanical detail.

Camellias and rhododendrons appear as lush, layered blooms in reds, pinks and whites; cacti and agaves have bold, sculptural shapes; bromeliads and tropical foliage plants add exotic colour and pattern.

Famous Works

• Iconographie descriptive des Cactées, Pl.12 (1841–1847). A plate from his own illustrated book on cacti.
• Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l'Europe (1845–), Ghent. The famous Belgian horticultural journal he edited for Louis van Houtte.
• L'Illustration Horticole (1854–1870), Ghent. The journal he edited for Ambroise Verschaffelt.
• Camellia Madame Rudolph Abel. A layered camellia bloom, one of over fifty in our collection.
• Rhododendrum Nuttallii. A large-flowered rhododendron.
• Agave filifera. A sculptural succulent with threadlike leaf edges.
• Pitcairnia Andreana. A colourful bromeliad.

Decorating with Lemaire Prints

Lemaire's camellias and rhododendrons bring rich, romantic colour to a living room, dining room or bedroom. Hang them in pairs or a grid of four in gilt or dark wood frames for a Victorian conservatory look.

His cacti and agaves have a graphic, modern feel that suits a minimal living room, home office or bathroom, especially beside real succulents and white walls.

FAQ

Who was Charles Antoine Lemaire?

Charles Antoine Lemaire (1800–1871) was a French botanist and botanical author, noted for his work on cacti and for editing leading horticultural journals in Paris and Ghent.

Did Lemaire paint the plates?

No. He was the editor and writer; the plates in his journals were made by artists, such as Jean-Christophe Heyland, his principal artist in Paris.

What journals did he edit?

Jardin Fleuriste and L'Horticulteur Universel in Paris, then Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l'Europe and L'Illustration Horticole in Ghent.

What is his connection to the Christmas cactus?

He named the genus Schlumbergera, which includes the popular Christmas cactus.

Was he famous in his lifetime?

Not very. He lived in near poverty and never found a wealthy sponsor. Édouard André, who followed him as editor of L'Illustration Horticole, predicted that later generations would value him more highly than his own did.

Related Artists

• Pierre-Joseph Redouté: the great French flower painter of the previous generation
• Walter Hood Fitch: leading Victorian botanical artist of the same era
• William Jackson Hooker: fellow editor of an illustrated botanical journal