Edvard Koinberg: Herbarium Amoris. Floral Romance
Erotic Power In Floral Form
The secret sex life of plants and flowers
The notion of plant sexuality was initiated by Swedish botanist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778). Working with his collection of over 20,000 specimens, Linnaeus grouped flowers and plants in a Calendarium Florae, and systematically classified plant species by the number and arrangement of their reproductive parts, drawing direct parallels with human sexual organs. Highly controversial at the time, the assertion that a plant's stamens and pistils mirror human genitalia resulted in a 'sexual revolution' in plant taxonomy.
Swedish photographer Edvard Koinberg creates a modern visual counterpart to Linnaeus's work, approaching the subject with equal passion and dedication. Having cultivated several hundred plants in his country house, Koinberg photographs each delicate bloom in his studio under perfect lighting conditions, depicting the life cycle of various flora as they bud, flourish and wane, resulting in a modern Calendarium Florae, a visual calendar that charts the year through flowers.
In Herbarium Amoris, Koinberg captures the lyricism and refulgent eroticism of the floral world in vivid close-ups, shot against dark backgrounds, the dew glittering on outspread petals, the most delicate of vegetal forms infused with unbridled life force.
About the photographer:
Edvard Koinberg, born 1964 in Stockholm, Sweden, photographs plants in the artistic tradition of Sweden's Enlightenment and Dutch painters from the 17th and 18th centuries. His work has been exhibited extensively throughout Europe, the USA, Russia, China, Indonesia, South Africa, and Australia.
About the authors:
Tore Frängsmyr, born 1938, was professor of scientific history at Uppsala University, Sweden. A former director of the Center for History of Science at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, his books include Linnaeus: The Man and His Work. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities.
Henning Mankell, born 1948 in Stockholm, is a widely renowned Swedish crime writer, occasional children’s author, and dramatist. While living in Mozambique, he retains close ties to his native country. He is an admirer of Carl Linnaeus, perhaps the most outstanding figure of Scandinavia's Enlightenment era.
   Leaf through!
|
Edvard Koinberg: Herbarium Amoris. Floral Romance
Mankell, Henning / Frängsmyr, Tore / Koinberg, Edvard / Koinberg, Edvard
Hardcover, 23.6 x 31 cm (9.3 x 12.2 in.), 280 pages $ 39.99 |
- Reviews (53 items)
"Edvard Koinberg ... schuf mit Das Liebesleben der Pflanzen ein bezauberndes, bisweilen wirklich erotisches, immer unverblümtes und dennoch stets jugendfreies Album voller Harmonie, Schönheit und Poesie."
Mein schönes Zuhause, Berlin, Germany
Mein schönes Zuhause, Berlin, Germany
- Clippings (56 items)
Herbarium Amoris - A Book Review
ourlittleacre.blogspot.com, United States, July 14, 2009
ourlittleacre.blogspot.com, United States, July 14, 2009
- Related (1 items)
 |
- See also (8 items)
 |
Thornton, Temple of Flora The complete reprint of all color plates from Robert John Thornton's monumental work The Temple of Flora, first published in London in 1799 |
 |
Edward Lear, The Parrots Completed in 1832 when he was just 20, Edward Lear's 42 hand-colored lithographs still stand as the finest images of the parrot family ever produced, and an unsurpassed monument in the history of scientific illustration |
 |
New! A complete reprint of Merian's great 1705 work on the stages of butterfly and insect development |