Jiřina Kaplická, Original Master Illustration for Mid-century Botanical Publication

This beautiful, original botanical illustration is by the highly regarded Czech natural history artist and illustrator, Jiřina Kaplická (1901-1984).This piece serves as a working publication layout plate, featuring Kaplická’s signature alongside handwritten botanical annotations in her original script. Technical pencil alignment marks are present on the sheet edges, identifying this as the master illustration used for a mid-century European natural history printing. Kaplická beautifully conveys the simple elegance of these daffodils. 

This piece, found here in New Zealand, features extraordinary provenance confirmed by the Director of the Kaplicky Centre in Prague. This work was a personal gift from Jiřina’s son, the legendary avant-garde British-Czech architect Jan Kaplický, to a close companion in New Zealand. One of my great joys is uncovering the stories behind these unique pieces. In this case, this beautiful artwork provides a fascinating convergence of master mid-century scientific art alongside an intimate link to modern architectural history. If you'd like to know more, the Kaplicky Centre has lots of information about the art of this incredibly talented family and has a fabulous online gallery of Jiřina Kaplická's works.

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