Author Description

"Years ago, artist David More set himself the task of observing and meticulously painting the trees found in Britain, France, Germany and the Low Countries - common or rare, native or introduced, growing wild or cultivated in arboreta, parks, and gardens. Deciduous trees were painted in the dead of winter as well as in full leaf; he also painted precise details of leaves or needles, bark, blossoms, fruit, nuts and cones. This enormous undertaking required years of study, travel, sketching, painting, and repainting until he was satisfied with each leaf on each page. The results are to be found in this extraordinary book.". "Well over a thousand species are shown together with as many cultivars. John White's accompanying text describes the native range of each species, the date of its introduction into cultivation, and other key facts. A surprising characteristic of the paintings is that all of the trees illustrated are "imperfect" to a greater or lesser extent - individual, asymmetric, even damaged by insects, people, weather, or time. Hence the reactions to the paintings from arborists and dendrologists: "You can see he has not invented them. They are all real trees."" "The trees to be found in British and European landscapes are mostly those to be found in North America as well - not surprising, since so many popular trees cultivated in Europe are in fact American natives. Thus, this magnum opus will prove as useful and inspiring in the Western Hemisphere as in the lands of its origin."--BOOK JACKET.