Hoping to upgrade your living space or share a touch of floral charm with the art lover in your life?
Take inspiration from highly acclaimed flowers in art and discover how you can refresh your home with their enduring splendour to transform any room into a living gallery.
For centuries, flowers have been cherished across cultures and celebrated in art for their intricate forms, striking colours and unique symbolic meaning. Representing timeless elegance and luxury, they have captivated artists in every era.
Look no further than this article for motivation on your next bouquet and how to embellish any space with the beauty, history and meaning rooted in these paintings.
Van Gogh’s Sunflowers
Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, most recently exhibited in London’s National Gallery, captures the full life cycle of the flower. Painted in 1888 whilst awaiting his friend and fellow artist Paul Gauguin’s arrival, Van Gogh’s experimentation with shades of strong yellows lends the painting a warmth and brilliance, even in the flowers’ final stages. With yellow traditionally symbolising devotion and loyalty in Dutch culture, Sunflowers holds specific connotations of friendship, hope and gratitude.
Tulips by Ambrosius Bosschaert III
As a beloved spring classic today, the popularity of tulips has stood the test of time with their appeal dating back to the seventeenth century’s Tulip Mania in the Netherlands. Originating from Central Asia, they became so prized that during the craze, the value of a single bulb exceeded that of Dutch houses. Consequently, they became prominent Dutch Golden Age artworks as seen in Ambrosius’s Bosschaert III’s Still Life of Four Tulips in a Wan-Li Porcelain Vase; a painting which details the exquisite colours and patterns of these blooms.
Perceived as exotic and rare, tulips symbolise wealth, status and luxury. They are the ideal choice for adding effortless taste and sophistication to your home with their versatility and dramatic bursts of colour. Catch onto tulip mania and explore our collection of arrangements to elevate your living space with instant luxury.
Orchids in Chinese art
Orchids are emblematic of loyalty, integrity and friendship in Chinese culture, deeming them the perfect show of appreciation to a friend or loved one, as a structural yet delicate flower to add charm to any room.
Yun Shouping’s Nine Orchids captures the gentle, gleaming tones of the orchid’s dainty petals, whilst Zheng Xie’s Orchids and Bamboo, painted during the Qing Dynasty, draws attention to the feathery grace of their form through his monotonal ink strokes.
When looking for a lasting floral option, orchids outlive any bouquet and provide the ultimate display of profound beauty.
Lilies and Roses – John Singer Sargent, Henri Fantin-Latour and Edouard Manet
An iconic duo of flowers that often appear taking form in yellow and pink hues in paintings, lilies and roses complement each other admirably. White lilies signify purity and virtue; a theme which is reiterated by Singer Sargent’s depiction of the young children in white clothing, illuminated by lanterns in the dim dusk lighting. Pink roses alternatively hold meaning rooted in gentleness, grace and admiration with the two together offering a blend of desirable qualities.
Manet’s Roses in a Champagne Glass (1882) demonstrates how even just two roses can grasp one’s attention and this painting serves as a reminder that everyday objects in your home can be used as fashionable vases for your floral arrangements.
Take inspiration from these famous artworks and explore our lily and rose collections. With our wide variety of vibrant shades, you can find the right fit for any person, place or occasion.
Carnations – John Collier
Elegance and refinement are two qualities represented in Portrait of a lady in pink carrying a bowl of pink carnations (The Honourable John Collier). Offering a glimpse into Edwardian glamour, the harmonious colour palette of pale pinks and whites appeals to the eye, enhanced by the consistency between the carnations and the subject’s silk gown.
Carnations commonly characterise femininity and motherhood. In Christian tradition, the Virgin Mary’s tears are said to have transformed into carnations when they reached the ground, prior to Jesus’ crucifixion.
Whether for Mother’s Day, another special occasion, or simply to infuse your home with tranquillity and femininity – carnations are a reliable choice.
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