Sexual

Sensual

Beauty

FLORAL ACRYLIC PAINTINGS

Poet Alfred Tennyson wrote of ‘The white flower of a blameless life‘, and William Blake’s Auguries of Innocence, found ‘All Heaven in a Wild Flower‘. Literature and poetry have generally portrayed flowers as symbolism for innocence, freshness and ephemeral beauty.

The flower is in fact the most specialized creation of the plant world. Swedish botanist Linnaeus (1707-78) showed that flowers were nothing more than sex organs, usually blatantly showing off their stamens and pistil, and to quote Italian botanist Léon Croizat, ‘… acting like husbands and wives in unconcerned freedom‘.

To most, flowers are cultivated for decorative purposes and admired as chef d’œuvres in luscious gardens. To the more curious mind, each flower, when examined closely, is intricate, ingenious, creating a beauty and interest of its own designed to excite our greatest and intimate admiration. A flower’s simple yet complex beauty, sensual, sexual, inexhaustible, and ingenious qualities represent the art and essence of life.

All images © 2023 Rodolphe Charpentier. All Rights Reserved