Adolphe Braun

Adolphe Braun, originally a textile designer from the Alsace region of France, left that field after the success of his photographic still-lifes. Braun’s still-lifes, some 300 of them, were created to aid designers and artists who were interested in accurately rendering foliage and flowers on fabrics and furnishings.

In one of these studies, Fruit Tree Blossoms, Braun carefully arranged a bouquet so that the flowers face forward while the overall design remains spontaneous and natural. Braun’s technical achievement-particularly the sharp contrast of the foliage against the neutral background-stood out among that of his contemporaries.

Flower painting arrived in France from the Netherlands at the beginning of the 18th century and was directly connected to the increased interest in horticulture of the time. The art was taught at the Musée Nationale d'Histoire Naturelle beginning in the late 18th century as a means of documenting botanic specimens with precision. Flower painters were employed to supply designs for porcelain factories such as those at Sèvres and other industrial centers. Braun's photographs with their lower cost and great accuracy, opened a new chapter in what was already a long history in the visual representation of nature.