Joan François Obbes (1869-1963)

Joan François Obbes (1869-1963) a well-known artist from the Netherlands, worked for a time at the Amsterdam Zoological Museum. While at the museum Obbes drew illustrations for two important books, The Reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago and the first ten volumes of The Fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. The reptile volumes contain 132 illustrations in volume 1, and 117 illustrations in volume 2. During this same time Obbes drew illustrations for the Fish volume.

I am fortunate to have two watercolors, representing drawings of snakes in volume two of the Reptiles. These both hold some interest and offer some clues to perhaps how Obbes worked. The first watercolor is of a Boiga dendrophila (Mangrove Snake). This painting was used as the cover of Herpetological Review in 2006, volume 37(1). Most of the information I have about the artist comes from the write up about the cover in this issue by Kraig Adler.

Below are pictures of the original watercolor, the cover of Herpetological Review 37(1), and the drawing on page 198, of Nelly de Rooij's 1917, Reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago volume 2.

In this case the original watercolor and the drawing differ little. Details that are lacking in the watercolor have been added to the drawing, but this is not unusual. Adler (in Herpetological Review 37(1)) states, "With reference to Obbes' work, it has not been previously recorded that at least some of his line drawings used in the de Roij volumes, including the figure [of the Mangrove Snake], were based on watercolors likely prepared using live specimens shipped to him from Java. In this case, the original watercolor measures 29 x 41 cm."

The second watercolor is perhaps more interesting in an enigmatic sort of way. The watercolor is of a Malayopython reticulatus (Reticulated Python):

However, in the book, the snake has transformed into Python curtus (Blood Python):

In my opinion the body shape and tail work much better as a Blood Python than as a Reticulated Python. It is difficult to surmise the process of illustration here. Clearly the Reticulated Python pattern is correct, as are the colors - suggesting the snake was drawn from life. The pattern of the Blood Python is also accurate, and the body shape seems accurate, which might necessarily had to have been drawn from life, since a preserved specimen's shape may be difficult to accurately depict. Perhaps most curious, is that the book offers a proportion to life of  "X 2/5". The head length in the printed drawing is  25 mm, giving a life size head length of 62.5 mm (about 2.5 inches). This is a reasonable length for a Blood Python, but not for anything, but a very young Reticulated Python. This leaves me wondering about the original watercolor, and the relationship between the two illustrations.

A search for information about Joan François Obbes didm not yield much written information. I did find references to a couple of books containing information about him. Both are encyclopedias of Netherlands artists. I also found several of his watercolors have been sold, particularly through auction. Many of these are of birds, while others are of people. I could not find any other herpetological watercolors, although undoubtedly more exist.

Art & Nature: Three Centuries of Natural History Art from Around the World

Art and Nature: Three Centuries of Natural History Art from Around the World

By Judith Magee

Art and Nature is a well illustrated book highlighting the natural history art collection in the British Museum. The book is divided into five chapters covering different regions of exploration: the Americas, Australasia, Asia, Africa, and Europe. The principle focus of each chapter is the artists who painted natural history subjects during the age of exploration.

Since the basis of most of the illustrations is the natural history art collection in the British Museum, there is certainly a British emphasis in the discussion of artists. However, given the extent of British exploration during the 1600-1900s, this emphasis covers quite a lot. The British Museum collection does include several non-British artists, like William Bartram, and this book includes a nice discussion of them as well.

Most of the illustrations in this book are of original art, not the reproductions in books. There are exceptions, but like the title suggests, the book is about the art of nature as opposed to the illustration (in books) of nature. This is especially nice since few people will ever have the opportunity to see the original art from the exploration of the world.

I quite enjoyed this book and the author's writing style. In fact Magee has written a couple of other books, The Art and Science of William Bartram, Chinese Art and the Reeves Collection, and The Art of India, each of which is a more in-depth look at topics covered in this book. More biographical information as well as more  pictures of the art by these artists. I look forward to reading each of these books.

Art and Nature (Originally published as Art of Nature) offers a good introduction with enough biographical information to peak an interest in further study. It is a nice introduction into the artists of the period. Most of the artists were key figures in the illustration of books as well.

Magee, Judith. 2009. Art and Nature: Three Centuries of Natural History Art from Around the World. Greystone Books, Vancouver, 256 p. (ISBN: 9781553655176)

Images of Science: A History of Scientific Illustration

Images of Science: A History of Scientific Illustration

by Brian J. Ford

In my efforts to study the history of natural history illustration, I hope to use this blog to discuss the topic. In doing this I plan to post notes or reviews of the various books and articles I read about the topic. 

After being inspired by Darwin's Ghosts to learn more about the history of natural history illustration, the first book I read was Images of Science: A History of Scientific Illustration by Brian J. Ford. This book is a broad survey of scientific illustration with eight chapters covering different types of scientific illustration: beginning with cave paintings, then moving on to human anatomy, animals, plants, rocks and minerals, maps, space and finally microscopic illustrations.

With such broad coverage, each chapter is necessarily an introduction to the topic covered. For me, being familiar with animal illustrations, that chapter was a bit of a let-down, simply because I felt several things of great interest were either barely touched upon, or skipped entirely. I can only assume the same is true for the other chapters as well.

The interesting thing is that because I know very little about the what all of the other chapters covered, I didn't feel they were inadequate. I found them interesting and informative and in most cases they left me wanting to learn more about what they covered. In this respect I think the author accomplished exactly what he had hoped. In fact, shortly after reading the chapter on botany, I read: 

Tangerini, Alice. 2014. Botanical Illustration: The past carries forward. Journal of Natural Science Illustration. 46 (3): 11-17. 

This article complimented the book chapter. My understanding of the article was enhanced having read the book.

If the history of scientific illustration is something you would like an introduction to, this book is one to consider. It is well illustrated and offers a good starting point. It is not authoritative, but is doesn't claim to be. It is a nice introduction or survey of the topic.

Ford, Brian J. 1993. Images of Science: A History of Scientific Illustration. Oxford University Press, New York, viii, 208 p. (ISBN: 0195209834)