16th Century Revisited
Among the many artful arrangements winding their way through Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr accounts, a very specific aesthetic is asserting itself: a low, wide, asymmetrical grouping that is nothing like the tidy Martha Stewart bouquets that dominated in the 1990s. Now, airy and elaborate mixed compositions erupt from low-footed urns and nearly spent-looking blooms reach in all directions alongside stray tendrils and vines. This distinct style, which appears over and over, calls to mind Dutch and Flemish botanical paintings of the 16th century…
In the 16th century, flower bulbs were so rare and expensive that it was more economical to commission a painting of an arrangement than to own fresh blooms…In its heyday, the Dutch style deliberately combined disharmonious colours and, unlike later tall and stiff Victorian styles, had no symmetry or central point. “Wild flowers and grasses from the field were also included,” Blacker notes. “Some flowers were purposely placed facing backwards and sideways…they were not crowded in the vase – the aim was to make each bloom clearly visible.”
