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Albert Robert Valentien (1862–1925) was an American
Ellen Browning Scripps commissioned Valentien to paint a series of illustrations of California wildflowers with the intention of publishing a compendium of the flora of California. Valentien worked on the project for ten years, and the scope of botanical subjects grew to encompass native grasses, ferns, and trees. Scripps ultimately decided not to publish the flora. Her estate donated most of his paintings in her collection, 1094 in total, to the San Diego Natural History Museum in 1933. San Diego Natural History Museum: Albert Valentien
/ref> Albert Robert Valentien died on August 5, 1925 in San Diego, California.
Valentien's paintings and art pottery work are represented in collections of the San Diego Natural History Museum, the Cincinnati Art Museum, the California State Library, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and in private collections.
The San Diego Natural History Museum−theNat.org: The Valentien Collection
— ''with 1,094 botanical watercolor paintings''.
San Diego Natural History Museum−theNat.org: Information on the artist, and the conservation/exhibition of his paintings
The San Diego Natural History Museum Research Library
houses a significant collection of Albert Valentien's paintings and papers. {{DEFAULTSORT:Valentien, Albert Robert Botanical illustrators American ceramists American watercolorists 1862 births 1925 deaths Painters from California People associated with the San Diego Natural History Museum University of Cincinnati alumni 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters 20th-century American male artists 19th-century American male artists Rookwood Pottery Company
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
, botanical artist, and ceramic artist
Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take forms including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is one of the visual arts. Whi ...
. He is best known for his work as the chief ceramics decorator at Rookwood Pottery
Rookwood Pottery is an American ceramics company that was founded in 1880 and closed in 1967, before being revived in 2004. It was initially located in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, and has now returned there. In its heyday ...
, and for his watercolor paintings of botanical subjects. In 1908, he accepted a commission from philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps to illustrate the botanical diversity of California. Over the next ten years, he produced approximately 1200 watercolor "plant portraits" of native California wildflowers, grasses, ferns, and trees.
Biography
Valentien was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on 11 May 1862, to Anna Marie Wolter and Frederick Valentine. He studied art at the School of Design of the University of Cincinnati (later the Art Academy of Cincinnati), working with Thomas S. Noble and Frank Duveneck. With fellow student John Rettig, Valentien studied decoration of china, learning underglazed pottery decoration from T(homas) J. Wheatley. He married artist Anna Marie Bookprinter (née Buchdrucker) in 1887.Rookwood
In 1884 he joined the Rookwood Pottery Company, and led the art pottery's decoration department for the next twenty years. In 1903, the Valentiens visited Southern California, staying several months with Anna's brother inDulzura
Dulzura ( Spanish for "Gentleness" or "Sweetness") is an unincorporated community in San Diego County, California.
Geography
The ZIP Code is 91917 and the community is inside area code 619. The community is largely rural and has a population ...
, a small community southeast of San Diego. During that visit, Valentien produced 135 paintings of California wildflowers, exhibiting the collection at the State Normal School in San Diego (present day San Diego State University).
Retiring from Rookwood in 1905, the Valentiens moved to San Diego in 1908.
California flora
Ellen Browning Scripps commissioned Valentien to paint a series of illustrations of California wildflowers with the intention of publishing a compendium of the flora of California. Valentien worked on the project for ten years, and the scope of botanical subjects grew to encompass native grasses, ferns, and trees. Scripps ultimately decided not to publish the flora. Her estate donated most of his paintings in her collection, 1094 in total, to the San Diego Natural History Museum in 1933./ref> Albert Robert Valentien died on August 5, 1925 in San Diego, California.
Collections
Valentien's paintings and art pottery work are represented in collections of the San Diego Natural History Museum, the Cincinnati Art Museum, the California State Library, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and in private collections.
See also
* List of California native plants *References
Further reading
* *External links
The San Diego Natural History Museum−theNat.org: The Valentien Collection
— ''with 1,094 botanical watercolor paintings''.
San Diego Natural History Museum−theNat.org: Information on the artist, and the conservation/exhibition of his paintings
The San Diego Natural History Museum Research Library
houses a significant collection of Albert Valentien's paintings and papers. {{DEFAULTSORT:Valentien, Albert Robert Botanical illustrators American ceramists American watercolorists 1862 births 1925 deaths Painters from California People associated with the San Diego Natural History Museum University of Cincinnati alumni 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters 20th-century American male artists 19th-century American male artists Rookwood Pottery Company